Are dry cleaning chemicals safe during pregnancy?

What does the evidence say about dry-cleaned clothes and PERC during pregnancy?

1. Consumers should air dry-cleaned items out before bringing them into the house or wearing them, and newer dry-cleaning equipment has greatly lowered how much PCE workers and clothing retain compared to older methods. 1
2. Residual PCE off-gasses from dry-cleaned fabric after pickup: home air testing found measurable PCE, as high as 300 micrograms per cubic meter in some U.S. homes, right after freshly cleaned clothes were brought inside, and far higher levels inside a closed car. 2
3. A well-studied case of PCE-contaminated drinking water on Cape Cod found associations with delayed time to pregnancy, placental abruption, and congenital malformations, though the exposure levels involved were far higher and more sustained than what's expected from wearing dry-cleaned clothing occasionally. 3
4. Air sampling inside dry cleaning shops has measured PCE levels that exceed OSHA and ACGIH occupational limits at certain tasks, and some studies have found cell-level DNA damage in workers even at exposure levels below those official limits. 4
5. General background exposure to PCE is unlikely to raise the chance of birth defects, though it isn't known whether sustained high-level exposure adds risk, and some older studies looked at a possible, inconclusive association with cleft palate. 1

Is dry-cleaned clothes and PERC safe in each trimester?

• First trimester. If you're newly pregnant and your job involves handling PCE directly, not just picking up dry cleaning, mention it to your employer and provider early. Air sampling at some dry cleaning tasks, like unloading the machine, has measured levels above OSHA and ACGIH occupational limits.
• Second trimester. For casual consumer use, airing dry-cleaned items out before bringing them inside cuts exposure the most. A closed car is one of the worst places to leave them: one study measured PCE levels rising from about 9 to nearly 25 mg per cubic meter within under two hours inside a car holding freshly cleaned clothing.
• Third trimester. There's no third-trimester-specific change to this guidance. Casual, aired-out exposure from clothing is a different scale than the contaminated-water and occupational studies that found links to problems like placental abruption, so keep that distinction in mind rather than worrying over an occasional dry-cleaned dress.