"WASHINGTON — The Environmental Protection Agency proposed Friday to weaken air pollution limits on a chemical used to sterilize medical equipment, a move that would reverse a Biden administration finding of high cancer risks at manufacturing facilities that use ethylene oxide to clean medical devices like catheters and syringes.
The EPA said it is concerned that the current Biden-era standards “actively threaten” manufacturers’ abilities to sterilize equipment and “jeopardize one of America’s only options for a secure domestic supply chain of essential medical equipment.”
Ethylene oxide plays a crucial role in sterilizing lifesaving medical devices, including pacemakers and syringes, but long-term exposure can cause leukemia and other types of cancer among people who work at medical sterilization facilities or live nearby."
Matthew Daly reports for the Associated Press March 13, 2026.
SEE ALSO:
"E.P.A. Moves to Weaken Limits on a Cancer-Causing Gas" (New York Times)
