The United States Environmental Protection Agency is proposing new limits on ethylene oxide emissions. The gas is used to sterilize billions of medical devices around the U.S. each year, including at Smyrna’s Sterigenics facility.
Longterm exposure to ethylene oxide emissions can cause cancers, including breast cancer, lymphoma and leukemia.
Research from The Union of Concerned Scientists has found the gas may be especially dangerous to children because it’s mutagenic, which means it can alter DNA.
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