General Discussion

Now, a new study recently published in the journal Liver International reports that a common chemical used in dry cleaning and for certain consumer products called tetrachloroethylene (PCE) may triple a person’s risk for liver fibrosis.

“Liver disease is on the rise, and it’s important to understand what is contributing to these trends beyond traditional risk factors (e.g. alcohol, diabetes) to inform interventions,” Brian P. Lee, MD, a hepatologist and liver transplant specialist with Keck Medicine at the University of Southern California and lead author of the study, told Medical News Today. “PCE has been linked (to) liver damage in mice, but hadn’t been well studied in humans in the context of liver disease.”