Map shows more than 14 million Americans live within 5 miles of cancer gas-emitting plants

More than 14 million Americans live within just five miles of 104 cancer gas-emitting facilities, reveals a new report.

The Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) found that these commercial plants release large amounts of ethylene oxide, a flammable colorless gas used to clean medical equipment and food items.

These facilities, designed to look like warehouses or office buildings, are located in densely populated areas, with more than 10,000 schools and childcare centers within range.

The report also identified 12 communities as hot spots or places exposed to at least two commercial sterilizers within 10 miles. 

‘People who live between these facilities may be exposed to ethylene oxide from more than one source, and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is not accounting for that fact,’ UCS shared in a statement.

‘And what is particularly concerning with ethylene oxide is that the facilities in our analysis disproportionately harm communities of color, low-income communities, and non-English speaking communities.’

Ethylene oxide is used as a sterilizer because it is found to damage DNA, but this ability also accounts for its cancer-causing activity.

The primary routes of human exposure to ethylene oxide are inhalation and ingestion, which may occur through occupational, consumer or environmental exposure.

UCS identified 23 commercial sterilizers in the US that emit cancer-causing gas at levels that ‘definitively’ contribute to elevated cancer risk.

The 12 sterilizer hotspots are located in: Minnesota, Colorado, Virginia, California, New York City, New Jersey, Texas and Puerto Rico.

‘Roughly 13 percent of Puerto Rico’s population lives within five miles of a commercial sterilizer, and four of the 23 facilities identified by EPA as contributing to elevated cancer risks are in Puerto Rico,’ UCS said in a statement. 

The data also highlights that many of these facilities are located near low-income neighborhoods and people of color.

‘The data clearly show that people of color bear a disproportionate burden of ethylene oxide emissions,’ according to UCS. 

The report found 12 regions are hotspots, where more than two facilities are in a 10-mile radius. Los Angeles is one of the hotspots 

UCS identified 23 commercial sterilizers in the US that emit cancer-causing gas at levels that ‘definitively’ contribute to elevated cancer risk. New York City and New Jersey are considered a hotspot

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued its first ethylene oxide emissions in 1994, but according to UCS, it was relatively weak. 

Then in 2005, the government agency proposed banning new commercial facilities from using the gas, forcing them to use alternatives. 

However, the EPA was pushed back by industry groups like the American Chemistry Council, and the proposal was scrapped.

The Clean Air Act requires the EPA to review and update its ethylene oxide emissions standards every eight years, but the last time it did so was in 2006. 

The EPA did release a list of 23 high-risk ethylene oxide sterilization facilities where the cancer risk in nearby communities exceeds the agency’s threshold of 100 cases per 1 million people. 

The UCS analysis looked at two types of facilities: commercial sterilizers – those facilities that use ethylene oxide to sterilize medical devices and food products like spices and dried vegetables – and miscellaneous organic chemical manufacturing (MON) facilities.

Darya Minovi, a senior analyst with the UCS Center for Science and Democracy, explained that ethylene oxide might not be entirely eliminated when used to sterilize medical equipment and some food products.

‘It is then emitted through a smokestack. In addition to ‘stack’ emissions, what appears to be happening at many of these facilities is that the gas is also escaping through windows, doors, and leaky valves and equipment—what are called ‘fugitive emissions,’ Minovi said in a statement.

‘Roughly 13 percent of Puerto Rico’s population lives within five miles of a commercial sterilizer, and four of the 23 facilities identified by EPA as contributing to elevated cancer risks are in Puerto Rico,’ UCS said in a statement

‘Many of these facilities are located adjacent to residential neighborhoods, schools, and other workplaces, and until concerned community members and public health advocates began to draw attention to this issue, many people living and working near commercial sterilizers had no idea they were being exposed to a toxic chemical. 

‘The facilities don’t look like factories. They generally look like nondescript warehouses.’

And while the EPA said in 2016 that ethylene oxide levels in the air outside a sterilizer are unlikely to be high enough to impact health, Minovi suggested otherwise.

‘There are already documented cases of cancer around these facilities. Last year, the Texas Department of State Health Services published the results of a cancer cluster study near a commercial sterilizer in Laredo, Texas. 

‘The study looked at cancer diagnoses between 2006 and 2019 and found ‘significantly greater than expected’ cases of lymphocytic leukemia and breast cancer.’