Dry Cleaning Chemical Can Ruin Your Vision

If your dry cleaning still smells like chemicals when you pick it up, leave it outside for a while to let the odors dissipate. At least one of the chemicals used in dry cleaning, the solvent tetrachloroethylene (PCE), is a neurotoxin that can lead to nerve and vision difficulties. It has also been linked to breast cancer and birth defects.

A study led by Boston University School of Public Health shows that exposure to PCE also can harm your ability to distinguish colors. In this research, people who drank PCE in their tap water when vinyl liners were improperly installed in water pipes had trouble identifying colors. The scientists studying this problem believe that this vision defect is irreversible.