Perchloroethylene is a volatile organic compound that has been linked to causing cancer in animals. It is also suspected to cause many of the breathing related symptoms of exposure to VOCs. Perchloroethylene is used mostly in dry cleaning. While dry cleaners recapture perchloroethylene in the dry cleaning process to reuse it, some environmental release is unavoidable. Studies show that people breathe in low levels of this VOC in homes where dry-cleaned clothes are stored and while wearing dry-cleaned clothing.

Canada
Specific components
Perchloroethylene
Anthropogenic sources