By Lynn Capuano
In Happauge, NY, there is a commercial medical equipment sterilization facility. In Linden, NY, there is another commercial sterilization facility. Next door in South Plainfield, NJ, there is a third commercial sterilization facility. And across the Long Island Sound in North Haven, CT, there is a commercial sterilization facility.
Why should this matter to you? These are the communities nearest us living under the literal cloud of ethylene oxide – within five miles of a facility using the chemical. Ethylene oxide is a flammable, colorless gas used to sterilize medical equipment and other plastics that cannot be sterilized using heat and moisture. It is also used as an antimicrobial treatment for spices, for manufacturing chemicals used in antifreeze and many other products.
It is very effective at killing viruses, bacteria, and human cells because of how it reacts with proteins, DNA and other cellular components. The irony is not lost that a substance used to protect people from harm poses a risk to the people around it.
Living near a facility using ethylene oxide does not equate to suffering harm from exposure to this pollutant. It does indicate a higher risk of harm, though, which will be dependent on levels of exposure, length of exposure, exposure to other pollutants and individual characteristics and conditions.
It may not be a surprise to learn there are safer alternatives to EtO, the abbreviation for ethylene oxide. Yet, industry continues to use EtO despite its cancer-causing effects. Studies have associated cancers like those of the white blood cells (non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, myeloma and lymphocytic leukemia) and breast cancer to continuing inhalation of EtO.
More disturbing is that EtO can change a cell’s DNA, its instructions. This impacts children more because their cells divide more rapidly as they grow, so they are more susceptible to the effects of DNA mutations. Living, working, going to school in the area around a facility using EtO can mean subjecting oneself to unsafe exposure levels regardless of the quality of control measures used by the facility. This can mean more immediate health concerns like headaches, gastrointestinal issues, fatigue, and eye and skin burns.
According to the Union of Concerned Scientists, New York City Metro-New Jersey is identified as a region with a high population density with a significant number of EtO facilities. UCS analysis determined that disproportionately communities of color, low-income and non-English speaking are polluted and harmed by EtO. One study by EPA found more than half of the people living in the immediate vicinity of 14 of 22 facilities emitting EtO are minorities or low-income households.
UCS suggests contacting the Environmental Protection Agency to voice your support for its current rule-making effort to strengthen ethylene oxide emissions controls from commercial sterilizers using the best available science. Current controls do not account for cancer risk despite EPA’s classification of EtO as a carcinogen. In addition to voicing support for this effort, we are encouraged to advocate for stronger controls for all users of EtO, including hospitals and a wide-range of manufacturers.
Currently emissions rules are by source and not by the chemical. This has resulted in a confusing array of rules for emissions from the same chemical. For more information on how to get involved, visit https://www.ucsusa.org/resources/ethylene-oxide-what-you-can-do. UCS is tracking EPA’s rulemaking efforts and posting updates at this website. Though EPA announced its decision to adopt stronger EtO emissions standards, it has yet to do so. It is also not requiring any fenceline monitoring at facilities according to Earthjustice.
Until now, efforts to address the harms of EtO have been shouldered by local communities fighting for stronger emissions controls and suing for the cancer-causing effects of the emissions. This is a role for the federal government and one contemplated by the Clean Air Act. But the EPA continues to be woefully behind in its updates to emissions standards for hazardous air pollutants with overdue dates for some tracked chemicals as long as seven to nine years.
A complicating factor in all of this is that EPA assesses chemical exposure one chemical at a time. It does not analyze the effect of exposure to multiple chemicals over time. In many communities, if they are exposed to one pollutant, there is a high likelihood residents are exposed to multiple pollutants. But EPA is not regulating emissions of pollutants based on exposure to multiple pollutants. The emissions controls may or may not be sufficient to address exposure to one chemical or pollutant, and scientists can and do study that. But EPA does not know how effective emissions controls are when the emissions of various pollutants are accumulated and inhaled.
Being informed and understanding the threat to our health from use of various chemicals is part of taking action. UCS is one of many organizations that provide information on health threats like EtO. The more people are aware and talking about these threats, the more chance those in the position to do so will take action to address the threat.
