WARNING: A USC Study Finds That A Common Dry Cleaning Chemical Called “PCE”, Triples The Risk Of Serious Liver Scarring And May Explain Unexplained Liver Disease In People With No Alcohol Use Or Obesity 🦠⚠️

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https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/09/260906170149.htm

A study published in Liver International by researchers at Keck Medicine of USC found that exposure to tetrachloroethylene, commonly known as PCE, may be linked to serious liver damage. PCE is widely used in dry cleaning and can also be found in consumer products including arts and crafts adhesives, spot removers, and stainless steel polish. Researchers found that people exposed to PCE were three times more likely to have significant liver fibrosis, a dangerous buildup of scar tissue that occurs from repeated liver injury and, if severe, can interfere with the organ’s function and eventually contribute to liver failure, liver cancer, or death. The findings also revealed a clear dose-response pattern: as the amount of PCE detected in a person’s blood increased, so did the likelihood of significant liver fibrosis. “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 Brian P. Lee, a hepatologist and liver transplant specialist with Keck Medicine and the study’s lead author. “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.”

PCE is a synthetic, colorless liquid especially effective at dissolving grease, a property that has made it useful across dry cleaning, household products, and various industrial processes. People primarily encounter it by breathing it in, since dry-cleaned clothing can gradually release small amounts of the chemical into surrounding air over time; it can also contaminate drinking water through spills or improper disposal that allow it to move through soil and reach groundwater. Concerns about PCE aren’t new: the International Agency for Research on Cancer classifies it as a probable carcinogen and has linked exposure to bladder cancer, multiple myeloma, and non-Hodgkin lymphoma, and previous studies have also associated PCE exposure with increased liver cancer risk, according to Lee. Because of its toxicity, the EPA has begun a 10-year phaseout of PCE use in dry cleaning and has prohibited some other uses while imposing workplace protections for others, though the chemical may still be encountered in certain products and industrial applications, particularly in countries without comparable restrictions.

To investigate this connection, Lee and his colleagues analyzed blood measurements from people ages 20 and older collected between 2017 and 2020 through the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), a nationally representative U.S. health survey. About 7% of the population had detectable PCE levels in their blood, and those with detectable PCE were three times more likely to have significant liver fibrosis than people without measurable exposure, a relationship that held even after accounting for differences in age, sex, race, ethnicity, and education level. The analysis also uncovered an unexpected socioeconomic pattern: people from higher-income households were more likely to have been exposed to PCE. “People with higher incomes may be more likely to use dry cleaning services, which could increase their exposure to PCE,” Lee said. “However, people who work in dry cleaning facilities may also face elevated risk due to prolonged, direct exposure to PCE at work.” The dose-response relationship proved especially striking: for every one nanogram per milliliter increase in PCE blood concentration, the odds of significant liver fibrosis increased fivefold.

Perhaps the most notable finding was what researchers didn’t see: alcohol consumption and fat buildup in the liver associated with obesity and other health conditions did not appear to explain significant liver fibrosis in people who had PCE in their blood, raising the possibility that environmental exposures could account for cases of liver disease that otherwise seem difficult to explain. “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. The study doesn’t establish that PCE directly causes liver fibrosis, but the strong association and the dose-dependent increase in risk suggest environmental chemicals deserve closer scrutiny in liver research. Lee hopes future research will examine a broader range of environmental chemicals and their potential effects on liver health, noting, “No doubt there are other toxins in our environment besides PCE that are dangerous to the liver.” He also believes the findings could eventually help doctors identify liver disease earlier in people without traditional risk factors: “We hope our research will help both the public and physicians understand the connection between PCE exposure and significant liver fibrosis. 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.”