• Posted October 27, 2025

Dry Cleaning Chemical Linked To Liver Scarring

Liver disease is usually caused by alcohol, fat buildup or hepatitis B and C.

But a widely used chemical might also contribute to liver scarring, researchers recently reported in the journal Liver International.

Exposure to tetrachloroethylene (PCE) might triple the risk of significant liver fibrosis — an excessive amount of liver scarring that can lead to cancer, organ failure or death, researchers said.

The more exposure people had to PCE, the more likely they were to suffer from excessive liver scarring, results showed.

PCE is used in dry cleaning, and it is also found in adhesives for arts and crafts, spot cleaners and stainless steel polish, researchers said.

“This study, the first to examine the association between PCE levels in humans and significant liver fibrosis, underscores the underreported role environmental factors may play in liver health,” said lead researcher Dr. Brian Lee, a hepatologist and liver transplant specialist with Keck Medicine of USC.

“The findings suggest that exposure to PCE may be the reason why one person develops liver disease while someone with the exact same health and demographic profile does not,” Lee said in a news release.

People are typically exposed to PCE through the air, researchers said — for example, through clothes that have been dry cleaned. It also can be present in drinking water from contaminated sites.

The International Agency for Research on Cancer has classified PCE as a probable carcinogen. Due to its toxicity, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has launched a 10-year phaseout for the use of PCE in dry cleaning.

For the new study, researchers tracked PCE exposure among more than 1,600 adults participating in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey between 2017 and 2020. More than 7% had detectable levels of PCE in their blood.

Those with PCE in their blood were three times more likely to have significant liver scarring, the study found.

For each one nanogram per milliliter increase in blood PCE concentrations, a person’s odds of having liver scarring increased five-fold, the study said.

Those most at risk of PCE exposure were from higher-income households, researchers found.

“People with higher incomes may be more likely to use dry cleaning services, which could increase their exposure to PCE,” said Lee. “However, people who work in dry cleaning facilities may also face elevated risk due to prolonged, direct exposure to PCE at work.”

Interestingly, alcohol use and fatty liver disease did not play a role in liver scarring when PCE was present, researchers said.

“Patients will ask, how can I have liver disease if I don’t drink and I don’t have any of the health conditions typically associated with liver disease, and the answer may be PCE exposure,” Lee said.

“If more people with PCE exposure are screened for liver fibrosis, the disease can be caught earlier and patients may have a better chance of recovering their liver function,” he added.

Future research should look into the potential of other toxins to contribute to liver disease, Lee said.

“No doubt there are other toxins in our environment besides PCE that are dangerous to the liver,” Lee said.

More information

The Environmental Protection Agency has more on tetrachloroethylene.

SOURCES: Keck Medicine of USC, news release, Oct. 23, 2025; Liver International, Oct. 16, 2025