https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/regulations/SOR-2003-79/page-1.

html#h-708231
QUESTION:
Current situation. How is the situation being remedied (if at all)? What are the prospects for
remediation? What are the costs of remediation and who is left holding the bag?

PERC
- PERC levels can be measured in the breath for weeks following high exposure because it
is stored in the body fat and slowly releases into the bloodstream
- PERC is liquid at room temp but readily evaporates into the air …as VOCs
- In vapor phase PCE can stay for a long period of time without breaking down
- Volatile nature of PCE means that it will evaporate from a liquid to a vapor easily

- PERC is denser than air, the vapors tend to settle to the floor (vapors tend to migrate to
low spots along the facility floor, cracks and floor drains
- Once released into the subsurface, it also volatilizes and disperses through unsaturated
soil.
- Classified as a probable human carcinogen
- It's been 15 years since perc was officially listed as a Toxic Substance under Canada's
Environmental Protection Act
- 1. SUBSLAB DEPRESSURIZATION SYSTEMS (SSD)
o Cost: $2,000 -$20,000
- Half-life in the atmosphere (70-250 days).
- 2. Removal from atmosphere due to reaction with hydroxyl radicals.
o Temperature dependent (increase rates in summer)
- 3. Vapour intrusion (find where the PCE is)
- 4. Soil Vapor extraction (SVE)
o Best; technical effectiveness and economic viability
o In-situ method for removing volatile organics with minimal site disturbance
o Uses extraction wells to induce air flow though soil to remove volatile
compounds
- 5. Artificial recharge
- 6. Enhanced biological degradation
- References:
 (5) QUESTION:
Current situation. How is the situation being remedied (if at all)? What are the prospects for
remediation? What are the costs of remediation and who is left holding the bag?

In North America, PERC has been one of the most popular chemicals in dry cleaning since
the 1950s and since then has concluded to be toxic to human health and the environment.
Looking at the current situation, Canada has committed very little on restricting or phasing out
this chemical, but instead are regulated under the Canadian Environmental Protection Act,
1999. On March 29, 2000, Tetrachloroethylene (PERC) was added to the List of Toxic
Substances in Schedule 1 and on February 27, 2003 a law was passed under the Dry-Cleaning
and Reporting Requirements Regulation in order to reduce the release of PERC from dry
cleaning facilities. This regulation compels only using efficient dry-cleaning machinery that
recovers more PERC throughout the dry-cleaning process by minimizing and preventing spills
and managing the collection and disposal of PERC residue and wastewater containing. PERC is
also regulated under the Solvent Degreasing Regulations for use and sale. These regulations
pertain to the supply, use and disposal of PERC involving owners and operators, importers,
sellers and recyclers. Specific prohibitions follow under the regulation when using PERC in dry
cleaning – these bans includes not using PERC as a spotting agent, only using PERC if
wastewater is stored in closed containers at all times and PERC can only be sold if the dry-
cleaning machine is in proper condition.

The City of Toronto has tracked PERC emission usage using the ChemTRAC program and has
depicted to be the leading drying cleaning pollutants. Toronto regulations requires dry cleaners
to report to the use and release of PERC if more than 100 kg per year. However, even with
proper usage, PERC still enters into the atmospheric environment.

Alternatives:
Substitution methods of PERC is the mainly implemented when dealing with PERC within
Canada. Substitution methods are encouraging the use of non-toxic alternatives such as wet-
cleaning and liquid carbon dioxide. Wet cleaning has been proven successful in transition and
genuinely environmentally friendly in various U.S studies. Wet cleaning entails using both water
and biodegradable detergents that runs through a computer-controlled washer to regulate the
amount of detergent being used and the amount of energy being used. Wet cleaning as well
does not produce any hazardous waste into the environment and does not pose a threat to
human health. Wet cleaning is technically viable, affordable and environmentally preferred.
Using liquid CO2 is also another alternative cleaning solvent that can be used that is non-
toxic. This process uses the gas that is produced from the cleaning process. However, liquid CO2
cleaning is significantly expensive and is not economically viable.
The total cost of wet-cleaning equipment ranges from $36,000- $61,000 USD and is
dependent on the size and brand of the machine. CO2 cleaning ranges from $100,000 to
$150,000. USD.
Since Canada has little case studies regarding the replacement of PERC. Looking at how well
the U.S has done on depicting that wet cleaning is a commercially feasible alternative for PERC;
one example was seen in California, 2000. Where the South Coast Air Quality Management
District conducted a study that compares the before and after evaluation of different dry-
cleaning business that had converted from PERC to wet cleaning. The results depicted that
overall customer satisfaction was not affected with using the new wet cleaning methods and
operating cost were significantly lower compared with the disposal of hazardous waste,
regulatory fees, staff training, maintenance, electricity and solvent cost that comes with using
PERC.

For PERC that are currently in our atmosphere

- Once PERC is exposed to air, it can dissolve slightly when mixed with water (moisture)
but over several weeks breaks down into other chemicals – with a half-life of 100 days
- PERC is liquid at room temp but readily evaporates into the air …as VOCs in vapor phase
PCE can stay for a long period of time without breaking down.
- They tend to settle to the floor (vapors tend to migrate to low spots along the facility
floor, cracks and floor drains)
- When these vapor chemicals reach property – concerns of vapor intrusion become
evident. Remediation for vapor intrusion can occur using sub-slab depressurization
systems (SSDS) design.
- SSDS designs can control the indoor air vapor intrusion of any building
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/dec/02/new-zealand-declares-a-climate-
change-emergency

As majority of PERC is found in dry cleaning facilities that are small, family owned business are
typically left in dealing with the remediation of PERC
required