"Local Dry Cleaners Top Target for Environment Canada Inspections"

"MONTREAL -- The federal government’s No. 1 hunting ground for environmental offenders isn’t deep in the mists of the boreal forest — it’s in the back rooms of Canada’s neighbourhood dry cleaners.

The pursuit of violations linked to a toxic chemical commonly used in dry-cleaning machines now makes up nearly a quarter of all inspections by Environment Canada enforcement officers.

In just a few years, the number of inspections to sniff out offences related to handling perchloroethylene — sometimes called tetrachloroethylene or PERC — has more than doubled.

Environment Canada warns that human exposure to high concentrations of PERC can inflict a host of health issues, including eye irritation, memory loss and even liver and kidney damage."

Andy Blatchford reports for the Canadian Press February 13, 2011.