Over 14 million Americans, including children, are living near facilities that emit ethylene oxide, a colorless cancer-causing gas, with California having the most such facilities, new research has found.
Ethylene oxide (EtO) is emitted by facilities sterilizing medical equipment and dried food products as well as chemical plants.
A study by the Massachusetts-based nonprofit Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) found that roughly 14.2 million people in the United States and Puerto Rico live within five miles of 104 EtO-emitting facilities. More than 10,000 schools and childcare centers are within these areas.
“California (15 facilities), Texas (nine), Puerto Rico (seven), Florida (six), Minnesota (six), and Georgia (five) are the states and territories with the most commercial sterilizers and EtO-emitting MON [Miscellaneous Organic Chemical Manufacturing] facilities,” a Feb. 7 report by UCS said….