To fight cancer, EPA wants sterilizer companies to emit less

The Environmental Protection Agency on Tuesday proposed limiting the use of the chemical ethylene oxide after finding a higher than expected cancer risk at facilities that use it to sterilize billions of medical devices each year.

The EPA says its proposal will reduce ethylene oxide emissions by roughly 80% by targeting 86 medical sterilization facilities across the United States. The companies will also have to test for the antimicrobial chemical in the air and make sure their pollution controls are working properly.

“EPA’s number one priority is protecting people’s health and safety,” EPA Administrator Michael Regan said in a statement. The agency's proposals "would significantly reduce worker and community exposure to harmful levels of ethylene oxide,” he said.

Darya Minovi, a senior research analyst with the Union of Concerned Scientists, called the action overdue by “almost a decade” and said it should have gone further to require monitoring at facility fence lines so people know what is entering their neighborhoods.