In a major win for community members in South Memphis, Tennessee, a facility emitting a toxic air pollutant—ethylene oxide (EtO)—announced late last month that it will close its doors. UCS featured the facility in its analysis earlier this year of the public health threat EtO poses to communities across the country.
The facility in question, Sterilization Services of Tennessee, is one of roughly 90 facilities in the United States and Puerto Rico that use EtO, a toxic colorless gas, to sterilize products such as medical devices and dried food products. While EtO is an effective sterilant, it is also a carcinogen. Breathing EtO over a long period of time can increase people’s risk of developing certain types of cancer, especially white blood cell cancers and breast cancer.
The facility in South Memphis was among the most dangerous commercial sterilization…
Read the full article originally published at blog.ucsusa.org.