- Climate change made deadly Hurricane Helene more intense: study
- A US climate scientist sees hurricane Helene's devastation firsthand
- Padres edge Dodgers, Mets on the brink
- Can carbon credits help close coal plants?
- With EU funding, Tunisian farmer revives parched village
- Sega ninja game 'Shinobi' gets movie treatment
- Boeing suspends negotiations with striking workers
- 7-Eleven owner's shares spike on report of new buyout offer
- Your 'local everything': what 7-Eleven buyout battle means for Japan
- Three million UK children living below poverty line: study
- China's Jia brings film spanning love, change over decades to Busan
- Paying out disaster relief before climate catastrophe strikes
- Chinese shares drop on stimulus upset, Asia tracks Wall St higher
- SE Asian summit seeks progress on Myanmar civil war
- How climate funds helped Peru's women beekeepers stay afloat
- Nobel Peace Prize to be awarded as wars rage
- Pacific island nations swamped by global drug trade
- AI-aided research, new materials eyed for Nobel Chemistry Prize
- Mozambique elects new president in tense vote
- The US economy is solid: Why are voters gloomy?
- Balkan summit to rally support for struggling Ukraine
- New stadium gives Real Madrid a headache
- Alonso, Manaea shine as 'Miracle Mets' blitz Phillies
- Harris, Trump trade blows in US election media blitz
- Harry's Bar in Paris drinks to US straw-poll centenary
- Osama bin Laden's son Omar banned from returning to France
- Afghan man arrested for plotting US election day attack
- Brazil lifts ban on Musk's X, ending standoff over disinformation
- Harris holds slight edge nationally over Trump: poll
- Chelsea edge Real Madrid in Women's Champions League, Lyon win
- Japan PM to dissolve parliament for 'honeymoon' snap election
- 'Diego Lives': Immersive Maradona exhibit hits Barcelona
- Brazil Supreme Court lifts ban on Musk's X
- Scientists sound AI alarm after winning physics Nobel
- Six-year-old girl among missing after Brazil landslide
- Nobel-winning physicist 'unnerved' by AI technology he helped create
- Mexico president rules out new 'war on drugs'
- Israeli defense minister postpones trip to Washington: Pentagon
- Europe skipper Donald in talks with Garcia over Ryder return
- Kenya MPs vote to impeach deputy president in historic move
- Former US coach Berhalter named Chicago Fire head coach
- New York Jets fire head coach Saleh: team
- Australia crush New Zealand in Women's T20 World Cup
- US states accuse TikTok of harming young users
- 'Evacuate now, now, now': Florida braces for next hurricane
- US Supreme Court skeptical of challenge to 'ghost guns' regulation
- Sparks fly as Orban berates EU 'elites' in parliament trip
- US finalizes rule to remove lead pipes within a decade
- Solanke hungry for second England cap after seven-year wait
- Gilded canopy restored at Vatican basilica
US EPA moves to reduce exposure to carcinogenic sterilizer
The US Environmental Protection Agency proposed measures on Tuesday to reduce exposure to ethylene oxide (EtO), a chemical widely used to sterilize medical equipment that has been found to increase the risk of certain cancers.
"EtO is used to sterilize approximately 20 billion medical devices each year and it fills a critical need in the medical industry," said EPA deputy administrator Janet McCabe.
"Long-term exposure to EtO can have serious harmful health implications, including certain types of cancers," McCabe said.
According to the Union of Concerned Scientists, long-term exposure to EtO increases the risk of non-Hodgkin lymphoma, myeloma, cancers of the white blood cells and breast cancer in women.
Besides sterilizing medical equipment, EtO is also used in some health care facilities and to sterilize spices to prevent illnesses caused by salmonella and E. Coli.
To reduce exposure to EtO, the EPA said it is proposing more stringent air emissions standards under the Clean Air Act and additional protections for workers exposed to the chemical.
It is proposing stricter pollution control requirements for 86 commercial sterilizer facilities across the country that would reduce EtO emissions by 80 percent.
Facilities would be required to report results to the EPA twice per year and comply with the new requirements within 18 months after they take effect.
The EPA is also proposing new safeguards to protect workers who use EtO to sterilize products, including real-time monitoring of EtO that can measure EtO within sterilization facilities down to 10 parts per billion (ppb).
If levels surpass 10 ppb, workers would be required to wear personal protection equipment, the EPA said.
The use of EtO would also be prohibited in certain places such as museums where alternative sterilization methods exist.
The EPA proposals will be open for public comment for 60 days and should be finalized in 2024, the agency said.
J.Williams--AMWN