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A versatile chemical building block, ethylene oxide is primarily used in industrial applications to manufacture other chemicals. Ethylene oxide and its derivatives help make a wide variety of materials and products we use every day, such as polyester fibers, fiberglass and plastic packaging film. It is also directly used to sterilize medical equipment and supplies.
Virtually all ethylene oxide produced is used as an intermediate in the production of other chemicals, that are then used to manufacture polyester fiber for clothes, upholstery, carpet, and pillows; and produce ethylene glycols for automotive engine antifreeze. Ethylene glycol also is used to manufacture fiberglass used in products such as jet skis, bathtubs and bowling balls, as well as polyethylene terephthalate (PET) plastic resin used to make beverage containers and packaging film.
Other ethylene oxide derivatives are used as ingredients in household and industrial cleaners, personal care items such as cosmetics and shampoos, heat transfer liquids, polyurethanes, plasticizers, ointments and pharmaceutical preparations.
Ethylene oxide sterilization is primarily used to sterilize medical and pharmaceutical products that cannot support conventional, high-steam sterilization procedures. Delicate, heat-sensitive medical devices that incorporate plastics and electronics could be warped or otherwise damaged by steam sterilization. As a low-temperature sterilizer, ethylene oxide gas won’t damage these types of medical devices. Ethylene oxide also is used to sterilize other healthcare products, such as bandages and ointments, reducing potential damage to the product that may occur from other means of sterilization.
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s (OSHA) ethylene oxide standard requires employers who have ethylene oxide present in their workplace to monitor employees for exposure. Under OSHA’s ethylene oxide standard, employers must provide appropriate protective clothing and equipment to employees who may be exposed to ethylene oxide. The National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) and the American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists (ACGIH) also provide guidance for industrial exposure to ethylene oxide.
In manufacturing settings, inhaling low levels of ethylene oxide long term can cause irritation of the eyes, skin, and respiratory passages and affect the nervous system, causing headaches, nausea and other symptoms. At higher levels of exposure for shorter periods, effects are similar, although they may be more severe. Ethylene oxide should never come into direct contact with skin.
OSHA has set exposure limits for employees working in facilities where ethylene oxide gas is present. In addition, employers must provide appropriate protective clothing and equipment to employees who may be exposed to ethylene oxide. The National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) and the American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists (ACGIH) also provide guidance for industrial exposure to ethylene oxide.
Ethylene oxide is present in the environment and is created by various sources, including vehicle exhaust, plants and cigarette smoke. The human body also creates ethylene oxide. Exposure to ethylene oxide varies across urban, suburban and rural environments.
Ethylene oxide emissions from industrial manufacturing and other applications are strictly regulated under federal and in some cases state and local laws.
Any potential association between ethylene oxide and cancer is linked only to chronic exposure. There is minimal cancer risk for the general population because most people are not exposed to significant quantities of ethylene oxide.
In 2016, the EPA Integrated Risk Information System (IRIS) program released an updated cancer value based on modeling.
A number of independent reviews have raised substantive and serious concerns about EPA’s IRIS program and its findings. For instance, the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) has said that, ‘the USEPA unit risk factor for ethylene oxide is not scientifically justified.’
In 2011, the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) also criticized IRIS assessments for their poor scientific quality – a result of the IRIS program’s unnecessary reliance on overly conservative and default assumptions in its modeling and outdated scientific information. Additionally, two EPA Science Advisory Boards outlined similar and additional issues with the EO IRIS assessment.
The EO assessment also includes errors in modeling historical exposures to EO, resulting in a value that is based on selective science and results in an overly conservative cancer value. In fact, the EO cancer value derived from EPA’s modeling is 19,000 times lower than the normal, naturally-created levels of EO in the human body.
