Under a consent decree signed in U.S. District Court last week, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has until March 1, 2024, to finalize much-needed updates for regulations on ethylene oxide (EtO).  

This court-enforced deadline comes after years of advocacy from communities across the country and a corresponding lawsuit filed by Earthjustice on behalf of California Communities Against Toxics, Clean Power Lake County, Rio Grande International Study Center, Sierra Club, and Union of Concerned Scientists.

The lawsuit, filed in December 2022, challenged EPA for failing to take legally required action to protect the public from carcinogenic air emissions from commercial sterilizing facilities using EtO.

“[The] consent decree signing is a critical step to ensuring that communities across the U.S. get needed protections from ethylene oxide emissions from commercial sterilizers. For years, EPA has promised new regulations to rein in commercial sterilizers’ toxic ethylene oxide emissions,” said Earthjustice Senior Attorney Marvin Brown. “And after years of missing their own deadlines, we sued and secured a judicially enforceable deadline. Now EPA must do its part and ensure that its sterilizer rule protects communities from this cancer-causing pollution.”

Ethylene oxide is a colorless, typically odorless, flammable gas used to sterilize medical equipment and to help produce chemicals needed for antifreeze, plastics, detergents, and adhesives. It is one of the most toxic air pollutants EPA regulates. It is a known carcinogen to humans, especially when inhaled.

In 2016, EPA admitted that the chemical is 60 times more toxic than previously estimated.

Now the agency must use the best-available science to enact the strongest possible protections to ensure that impacted communities will not continue being exposed to this aggressive carcinogen.

“As a result of the collaboration of environmental justice communities and national environmental organizations, [this] marks a monumental step towards cleaner air,” said Celeste Flores, Clean Power Lake County steering committee member. “We are one step closer to ensuring that the EPA finalizes the crucial commercial sterilizer rules for EtO. We urge the EPA to act swiftly and pass the strongest regulations for healthy communities.”