Stricter pollution standards set for Sterigenics, other medical sterilization companies
Environmental Protection Agency staff members were in the Borderland to spread the word about changes in the standards for ethylene oxide, a carcinogen emitted by medical sterilizer facilities.
The EPA visited Santa Teresa, New Mexico, last week to address concerns that a Sterigenics plant at 2400 Airport Road is hazardous to public health.
Jeff Robinson, air permits branch chief for EPA Region 6, said Sterigenics has installed pollution control technology bringing ethylene oxide emissions within what the EPA considers acceptable risk. The visit came ahead of new ethylene oxide standards from the EPA, which will impact the Sterigenics plant and two medical sterilization facilities in El Paso, Dynatec Scientific Laboratories and Isomedix Operations Inc.
“We know the risk from this facility is reduced from what it was one or two years ago,” Robinson said. “The company has begun to take some very proactive steps to reduce its emissions.”
EPA staff held an open house Nov. 1 at the War Eagles Museum. Sterigenics did not respond to a request for comment.
The New Mexico Attorney General’s Office is continuing a lawsuit filed in 2020 against Sterigenics, alleging that the company has deteriorated air quality in Santa Teresa and has contributed to increased health risks.
“The Attorney General is seeking relief directly from Sterigenics including abatement of the public health threats its practices have caused, and it is the hope of the Attorney General that the litigation will prompt additional federal oversight," a spokesperson for the state attorney general said in an email last week.
What is ethylene oxide?
Ethylene oxide, a flammable, colorless gas, is used to sterilize medical and dental equipment. The air near some commercial sterilizers has high concentrations of ethylene oxide, which over time can increase the risk of getting cancer.
The EPA has been reviewing its standards for ethylene oxide and is expected to release new regulations by the end of 2022 or early 2023. Some companies have implemented additional pollution control measures ahead of the new regulations.
The Sterigenics facility in Santa Teresa, 5 miles north of the port of entry, opened in 1989. The EPA has identified the closest residences to be approximately 2 miles away from the site. The El Paso medical sterilization facilities, Dynatec Scientific Laboratories, at 11940 Golden Gate Road, and Isomedix Operations Inc., at 1435 Isomedix Place, are smaller than Sterigenics and the EPA does not consider their emissions to pose an elevated cancer risk.
A sterilizer in Laredo, Texas, owned by Midwest Sterilization Corp., has raised concern among the Latino residents who live nearby. A 2021 analysis by the news organization ProPublica found the Laredo plant emitted more ethylene oxide on average than any other sterilizer nationwide. The EPA released an updated list of 23 high-risk sterilizer facilities, including Laredo, in August 2022. The Doña Ana and El Paso county sites are not on the list.
More:New Mexico sues Sterigenics over ethylene oxide emissions at Santa Teresa plant
EPA holds community meetings near commercial sterilization sites
Robinson of EPA Region 6 explained the EPA establishes permittable ethylene oxide emission levels in its National Emission Standard for Hazardous Air Pollutants regulations. EPA regulations set the acceptable risk to develop cancer from lifetime exposure to air pollutants at 1 in 10,000. That means if 10,000 people are exposed to the air pollutant at close range over their lifetime, one person will develop cancer from it.
Sterigenics was initially placed on a list of facilities where cancer risk from ethylene oxide exceeded that risk level. But Robinson said the company’s steps to reduce fugitive emissions – for example from doors opening and people exiting and entering the facility – have brought the risk down to acceptable levels.
“If you’re at the facility doors, the risk is less than 100 in a million (or one in 10,000),” Robinson said. “If you get out to the residential areas, where the high school and middle school are, the risk is significantly less.”
New Mexico AG continues case against Sterigenics
New Mexico Attorney General Hector Balderas filed a public nuisance suit against Sterigenics, a subsidiary of Sotera Health, in December 2020, alleging the company's ethylene oxide emissions elevated the cancer risk for area residents. Sterigenics sought to have the case tried in a federal court, but in April 2021 the case was sent back to New Mexico courts.
A spokesperson for the Attorney General's Office said the lawsuit is being "actively litigated" and a 25-day jury trial is scheduled to start in June 2024.
More:New Mexico toxic pollution lawsuit against Sterigenics bounced back to state court
Staff writer Martha Pskowski may be reached at mpskowski@elpasotimes.com and @psskow on Twitter.
This article originally appeared on El Paso Times: Air standards tighten for Sterigenics, medical sterilization companies
