Oregon Dry Cleaners Association

Dear Oregon Dry Cleaners,
Oregon Dry Cleaners Association (ODCA) did the research, contacted others in the industry for help, and made Public Comment. The result was well worth the effort! The Air Toxic Scientific Advisory Committee (ATSAC) voted on 5/18/2006 not to set the ambient benchmark for PERC at 0.17 micrograms per cubic meter. A benchmark that would have required further regulations on PERC Cleaners. Instead the ATSAC committee voted to use a non-carcinogen based number. ATSAC also stated at the meeting that based on the information they received they do not believe that PERC is a human carcinogen.
Let’s start at the beginning – ODCA board members heard a rumor that the DEQ Air Quality was looking into issuing permits to Oregon Dry Cleaners plus a mandatory plant inspection every 5 years. The rumor had a figure of $600.00 annually attached to it. ODCA instantly started researching and found that the DEQ Air Quality was preparing to set ambient benchmarks for 49 different chemicals and PERC was on the list. Further investigation came up with – once the ambient benchmark was set they would then write rules accordingly (could that be permitting?). Still ODCA dug deeper and found the minutes from the ATSAC meeting in which they set the PERC ambient benchmark. In that meetingaccording to the minutes – The Committee wondered why better and more recent data weren’t available for such a commonly used solvent. ODCA also discovered that it was coming up for public comment. Kathey Butters, Immediate Past President, contacted the Oregon Korean American Dry Cleaners Associations (KADAC), National Cleaners Association (NCA), Halogenated Solvent Industry Alliance (HSIA), and International Fabricare Institute (IFI) asking them to submit written comment. Both NCA & HSIA submitted written public comment. ODCA made their comments in person at meetings held in Portland and Medford.  Oregon Dry Cleaners Assn., National Cleaners Assn., and Halogenated Solvent Industry Alliance were the only ones who submitted comments. Part of those comments was the introduction of the Nordic Study, the kind of scientific information the committee needed.
The ATSAC met on Thursday, 5/18/2006 (the section of the minutes pertaining to PERC are attached)to revisit a few of the chemicals they received public comment on and of course PERC was on that agenda. Again ODCA was there representing the dry cleaners of Oregon. The committee had reviewed the Nordic study and other information that was submitted by ODCA, NCA, & HSIA and agreed to “revise PERC’s benchmark to reflect its non-cancer effects”.
OREGON DRY CLEANERS – do you realize how much this means to you?
If in fact the rumor became true you could very well have been looking at sitting down and filling out additional reports and writing an additional check for $600.00 annually!!  ODCA has been there looking out for all the cleaners in the state, not just its members. Paid memberships of only $150.00 annually keep this organization going. If we have stopped the permitting process we just saved you $600.00 and additional paper work. Send us the $150.00 for membership and pocket the rest or even better join NCA. THESE ARE THE ASSOCIATIONS WHO ARE LOOKING OUT FOR YOUR INTERESTS.

 Actual Minutes from DEQ:

Tetrachloroethylene (PERC)
Bill opened the discussion by noting that several comments (from the Oregon Dry Cleaners Association, the National Drycleaners Association, and the Halogenated Solvents Industry Association) requested that the ATSAC reconsider the classification and treatment of PERC as carcinogen. All three organizations submitted substantial peer-reviewed literature in support of their request (this information was not available in early 2005 when the ATSAC first discussed this air toxic). As a result, the Department recommended that the ATSAC review PERC’s designation and consider the possible use of the non-cancer reference concentration. Part of the new information is the fact that both Health Canada and the Ontario Ministry of the Environment no longer regulated PERC using a human cancer endpoint because it appears to be a very weak carcinogen in humans. While studies in rats showed increased levels of liver cancer, such evidence is not consistent in human studies. Bill said that this is a fundamental
point and compelling new information. It is very unclear if PERC is a carcinogen in humans, and if it is a human carcinogen, its potency is very weak. At Brian’s request, Bill described some of the weaknesses and issues in the epidemiological studies that have tried to link human cancer occurrences to exposure to PERC. Confidence in findings is limited by low number of observations, and controlling for potential confounding factors is difficult. Often smoking and alcohol consumption are factors that have not been
separated from the factor of working as a dry cleaner. The Mundt et al. 2002 review paper presents the range of risk estimates from available cohort and case-control studies of liver, lung and bladder cancers. Considerable heterogeneity has been observed in risk estimates. A new case- control study (Lynge et al. 2006) of Scandanavians employed in the dry cleaning industry in the 1970s controlled for exposure to smoking and alcohol, and failed to demonstrate increased risks of cancer of the gastric cardia, pancreas, liver, or with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. The evidence for PERC’s non-cancer effects is much stronger. The Committee decided to revise PERC’s benchmark to reflect its non-cancer effects. This decision raised the previously proposed benchmark from 0.02 μg m-3 to 35 μg m-3, which is the 1991 OEHHA REL.

#1— The Wonders and Woes of Wetcleaning with Ann Hargrove of NCA

#2— Confidence at the Counter with Alan Spielvogel of NCA

Mark Your Calendar for Two (2) Very Special Seminars Each to be Presented in Medford, Eugene and Portland This summer you’ll be able to notch up your operation’s wetcleaning and customer service skills in your own backyard because the ODCA has partnered with NCA (National Cleaners Association) and they’re bringing two of the industry’s foremost experts to Oregon to reveal their secrets for success at wetcleaning and customer service!

At these seminars you and your people will learn:

Confidence at the Counter

Your CSRs will develop new confidence and skills for handling garments and customers at the counter. They’ll learn what to look for, what to up charge and why it’s fair. They’ll learn the early warning signs of customer dissatisfaction, how to respond to common place questions and challenges, and lotsmore.

The Wonders of Wetcleaning

You’ll learn what equipment you need and why you need it, the chemicals to use, how to sort, test, avoid shrinkage, stretching and felting, minimize finishing, pre-spotting oily stains, the secrets for success with silk and wool, what you never wetclean, the difference between washing and wetcleaning, and lots more.

Medford Tuesday, August 22— 7pm-9pm

Location to be Announced

Eugene Wednesday, August 23— 7pm-9pm

The Phoenix Inn 850 Franklin Blvd Eugene, OR

Portland Thursday August 24 — 7pm-9pm

The Phoenix Inn 14905 SW Bangy Road Lake Oswego

Registration (per person/per seminar):
NCA / ODCA Members: $30

ODCA Members: $40

Additional people same business:
$10 each members

$25 each non-members

To register contact: call Claire(541)826-5484 or Kathey (503)871-5144

The dates are set and contracts have been signed!  Your convention committee is pleased to announce that this years Oregon Dry Cleaners Association Convention will be held at Spirit Mountain Casino in Grand Ronde October 20-22. 

These are exciting and challenging times to be a dry cleaner and no one understands this more than the Oregon Dry Cleaners Association.  We are busy lining up informative and energetic speakers to help you cope with the day to day operation as well as the long range planning of your business. 

The Spirit Mountain Casino and Lodge is the perfect venue to escape the daily grind.  It offers dining in four restaurants and cafes, including Legends for fine dining and live entertainment in the Summit View.  The lodge offers luxurious accommodations and a first class meeting facility geared to groups of our size.  Spirit Mountain is the largest casino in the state of Oregon but kids aren’t forgotten.  Playworld and the Arcade are located right next to the meeting rooms so the entire family can attend and stay entertained.  Rest assured, the facility offers plenty of smoking and non-smoking areas so everyone will be comfortable. 

We will keep you updated on plans for our annual convention in your monthly ODCA Newsletter.  Watch for detailed information on the Spirit Mountain Casino as well as updates on our speakers and vendors!  To learn more about Spirit Mountain, go to http://spirit- mountain.com/
To learn more about The Oregon Dry Cleaners Association annual convention as well as a wealth of other information, check out http://oregondrycleaners.org/. 

ODCA Convention Committee Contacts:
Brian Olson, Chair: (503)-244-9707
Leslie Kettenhofen: (541)997-9255
Karen Shinabery: (503)325-5235

Valley River Inn, Eugene 10:00am - 3:00pm

Board Meetings are open to the membership and ALL MEMBERS are encouraged to attend. Contact Secretery Tammy Thompson at tthompson@oregondrycleaners.org if you would like to attend or to have a subject added to the agenda.