The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on Thursday finalized a rule that it said will eliminate 90 percent of sterilizer plants’ emissions of ethylene oxide — a carcinogenic gas.
Plants that sterilize medical devices and other products, such as spices, release the carcinogen. The EPA says there are currently 88 such plants operating in the U.S.
When it first proposed the rule last year, the EPA said it would give plants 18 months to comply, but it is loosening the timeline. It now says the largest plants will have two years, while smaller plants will have three years with a possible additional one-year extension.
Environmental advocates lamented this change, and also said they are disappointed that the rule didn’t cover emissions from offsite warehouses for devices treated with ethylene oxide.
“It’s devastating to see the human toll of regulatory loopholes,” said a written statement from Urszula Tanouye scientific advisor to Stop Sterigenics, a group that formed in opposition to a now-closed plant in Illinois.
Read more at TheHill.com.
