The Environmental Protection Agency on Wednesday said it plans to do outreach to communities where there are elevated cancer risks — including Lakewood — because of medical sterilization facilities that use ethylene oxide in their operations.
Terumo’s Lakewood plant holds its emissions below permitted levels, Done said. The company already converts used ethylene oxide to ethylene glycol, which is recycled for use as a primary ingredient in antifreeze for cars.
The state health department’s most recent data on Terumo’s emissions is from August to October 2018, when the agency found additional controls installed at the facility resulted in a two- to five-fold reduction in cancer risk to nearby residents, spokeswoman Leah Schleifer said in an emailed statement Wednesday.
But Done said the EPA’s estimates are based on computer modeling, whereas the state has conducted actual emissions testing. Laredo is a border city where the vast majority of residents are Latino and more than a quarter live in poverty. Missouri-based Midwest Sterilization Corp. operates a sterilization plant in Laredo. The company also owns a plant in Jackson, Missouri, that is on the EPA’s watch list.
In many cases, there are no practical alternatives currently available to ethylene oxide, the group said, adding that use of less effective cleaning methods “could introduce the real risks of increased morbidity and mortality″ at hospitals throughout the country.”
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