Article: Inside look

Tuesday May 12, 2009

IT is not an unusual sight: a shoplot in a busy corner of Selangor that houses a laundry and dry-cleaning business. It looks like a family operation – the girl at the counter calls the owner abang and two young children are running around behind the counter.

The owner is friendly and accommodating, and even invites me to the back of the building to see how the dry-cleaning is done. A large, rattling machine hulks in a corner, looking like a very big washing machine.

Behind it is a large drum which the owner says contains his supply of dry-cleaning chemicals, although he doesn't know its name. The label on the drum says it is perchloroethylene (perc), the most commonly used solvent to dry-clean garments.

To my shock and discomfort, he picks up a dipper filled with perc that has been sitting on a stool nearby, and holds it near my face for me to smell. The odour is strong and petrol-like, and I feel slightly nauseous.

"This is what we use to do dry-cleaning," he says. Meanwhile, his two children are running back and forth, veering dangerously close to us in their play.

When asked if he wears a mask while handling the perc and running the machine, he laughs sheepishly and says: "You are supposed to, but I've gotten used to the smell, so I don't." I ask further about protective gear like gloves, and he says he doesn't wear those either.

"Initially, when I took clothes mixed with perc out with my hands, I used to feel pedih (burning sensation), but now I'm so used to it, I hardly feel anything," he says.

We start talking about how the perc is actually used, and he mentions that while most of it is recycled by the machine for reuse, residues are left in the machine. He explains that he just clears out this debris "like you clean a vacuum cleaner", and throws it away with the rest of his rubbish.

Another laundry-owner in Kuala Lumpur employs mostly foreign workers in her business. Her shop is in a residential area, and is one of many small laundries in the location. Having been in the business for more than 10 years, she is aware of the hazards of perc. She explains that she makes her workers wear gloves and masks when they perform the dry-cleaning operations. When I spoke to one of her employees however, he says he rarely wears the mask because he doesn't think it is necessary.

The owner further explains that her employees place the perc residue in a special bag and put it out with the regular rubbish, but they inform the rubbish collector that it may contain chemicals.

She admits, however, that she does not know whether the collectors subsequently dispose of the chemical waste properly. – By Sharmilla Ganesan

Related Story:
Dirt from dry-cleaning

This article was taken from: The Star Online: Lifestyle: Focus: 12 May 2009