Ethylene oxide is a scourge to poor Gulf Coast communities but considered essential to sterilizing equipment for hospitals and clinics.
Acting in response to community health experts and environmental justice advocates, the Environmental Protection Agency is proposing tougher standards on several toxic chemicals, including ethylene oxide, widely used for sterilizing medical equipment and other purposes.But parts of the health-care and chemical industries are warning that these Biden administration rule changes could disrupt the supply of safe medical equipment, affecting hospitals and clinics nationwide.
In an analysis this year, the Union of Concerned Scientists reported that 14 million people live within five miles of commercial sterilizers and other major emitters of ethylene oxide, and that more than 48 percent of those are people of color. Nearly 32 percent are poor. It also found that while there are only about 100 of these facilities nationwide, they are often grouped together, causing cancer-risk hot spots, typically in urban areas, including around Los Angeles, Minneapolis-St.
“For generations, our most vulnerable communities have unjustly borne the burden of breathing unsafe, polluted air,” Regan said in a statement. “Every child in this country deserves clean air to breathe, and EPA will use every available tool to make that vision a reality.”
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