New European legislation concerning the use of dangerous solvents has prompted the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to prepare guidelines for the dry- cleaning industry.
The agency has contracted the Clean Technology Centre in Cork, which specialises in environmental improvement in industry, to prepare the best-practice guidance notes.
The vast majority of Irish dry- cleaners use the solvent perchloroethylene (colloquially known as perc) as their cleaning agent. Of approximately 500 dry-cleaners, only two use another substance, called hydrocarbon, an industry source has confirmed.
Another cleaning product which is silicon-based and is meant to be more environmentally-friendly is available internationally but there are no machines which use it operating in Ireland.
At present dry-cleaners are not subject to any specific environmental regulation, despite the industry annually using over 300 tonnes of perc, which is highly persistent in groundwater.
The only authorisation required by dry-cleaners is a local authority licence to discharge trade effluent, which any business discharging to the sewerage system must obtain.
However, from 2007 all dry- cleaners will have to comply with the new solvents regulations which set emissions limits for volatile organic compounds arising from the use of organic solvents such as perc.
"Potentially hazardous chemicals are used in many different areas of society," explained Ms Eileen O'Leary, a research engineer with the Clean Technology Centre.
"But the dry-cleaning sector is one of the first to be regulated by this new solvents legislation," she said
Dry-cleaners, it is understood, will most likely have to register with local authorities rather than with the EPA and, according to the regulations, certification of compliance with the regulations will be required annually.
Annual proof of compliance with current health and safety regulations regarding the use of chemicals such as perc is not required.
The recommended occupational exposure limit value for perc in the workplace was halved in April this year, although none of the dry-cleaners interviewed were aware of the change in exposure limits.
They were also generally unaware of the hazards of perc, which the US National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health recommends "be treated as if it were carcinogenic, ie, that there is no safe exposure level".
While Health and Safety Authority statistics show that at least 20 inspections of dry- cleaners were made annually since 1994, one of its officials explained that no records are kept on whether such visits are by a general inspector (who would not have particular expertise in the use of chemicals), or by an inspector with more specialist knowledge.
Due to a lack of resources, most visits would be by general inspectors, she said.
One dry-cleaner who has been working in the business for over 30 years, but who asked not to be named, can only remember seeing one health and safety inspector in all his years in the business.
"One guy came in here five years ago talking about the chemicals to remove the stains. He didn't mention the perc machine," he said.
There is no publicly available data on the levels of atmospheric perc in dry-cleaning premises in Ireland and so there is no easy way for dry-cleaners to find out if the premises they work in has perc air levels below the recommended levels.
The health effects of exposure to high concentrations of perc, as described in a chemical information fact sheet produced by the New York State Department of Health are those "on the central nervous system, kidneys, liver and possibly the reproductive system".
The potential long-term effects of breathing perc at much lower levels than those which produce central nervous system effects, it says, have not been identified. This US Department is completing a major research project into improving human health-risk assessment for perc.
Previous research from New York found significantly elevated levels of the solvent in the indoor air of apartments located above dry-cleaners, as well as in the outdoor air near dry-cleaners.
The US EPA thus considers perc to be a problem pollutant in urban areas.
In Ireland there is no published data on atmospheric perc levels as air pollution monitoring "other than smoke and sulphur dioxide" is very limited, according to Ireland's Environment - a Millennium Report by the EPA.
The upcoming guidelines for dry-cleaners represent a first step in improving the Irish industry's environmental performance, which to date has depended solely on dry-cleaners choosing to buy more efficient cleaning machines, rather than on any environmental regulations.