EPA is monitoring possible cancer-causing emissions in Southwest Memphis
A syringe is prepared at a clinic in Norristown, Pennsylvania, on Dec. 7, 2021. The Environmental Protection Agency is warning residents in 13 states and Puerto Rico about potential health risks from emissions of ethylene oxide, a chemical widely used to sterilize medical equipment and decontaminate spices. (Matt Rourke/AP file)
The Environmental Protection Agency is monitoring 23 communities, including Southwest Memphis, after learning more about the cancer risks associated with ethylene oxide (EtO) emissions from commercial sterilizers.
The Sterilization Services of Tennessee at 2396 Florida St. is adhering to current EPA regulations, but a recent risk assessment shows elevated risk of long-term exposure to EtO.
“Today, EPA is taking action to ensure communities are informed and engaged in our efforts to address ethylene oxide, a potent air toxic posing serious health risks with long-term exposure,” said EPA Administrator Michael Regan. “Under my watch, EPA will do everything we can to share critical information on exposure risk to the people who need and deserve this information, and to take action to protect communities from pollution.”
The 46-year-old facility used EtO to sterilize devices like medical equipment, but the gas can also be used to make other chemicals and products like antifreeze and plastic bottles.
The National Cancer Institute says EtO’s ability to damage DNA makes it a powerful sterilizer but also accounts for its cancer-causing activity. The EPA, which concluded that EtO is carcinogenic to humans through inhalation, reports that long-term exposure to ethylene oxide in humans can cause irritation of the eyes, skin, nose, throat, and lungs, and damage to the brain and nervous system.
Lifetime Residential Cancer Risks map (Courtesy EPA)
“I am very concerned about the emissions based on the history of this chemical in other cities,” Rep. Steve Cohen (D-TN) said. “It is fortunate that the risk was detected and that federal officials are working to address it.”
Cohen said he is in contact with EPA, as well as Memphis and Shelby County officials, to ensure adequate testing and safety measures are in place.
EPA found a risk of 100 in a million — or 1 case per 10,000 people — within a few miles of the facility. This means that if 1 million people were exposed to this level of EtO in the air 24 hours a day for 70 years, 100 people would be expected to develop cancer from that exposure.
Within the immediate area around the facility, EPA found a risk of 2,000 in 1 million — or 20 cases per 10,000 people.
The biggest greenhouse gas emitters in Shelby County are in South Memphis, a community that’s predominantly Black and low income, and some locations in south Memphis have an estimated lifetime cancer risk from industrial sources of 1 in 2,400 — about 4 times the EPA’s acceptable risk.
A map showing greenhouse gas emissions from facilities in Shelby County, scaled relative to emissions. (Courtesy EPA)
EPA aims to engage communities near those facilities to develop more protective Clean Air Act standards for EtO emissions and ensure that community members are informed about the results of EPA’s air sampling, according to the Shelby County Health Department’s press release.
Those interested can register for EPA’s community meeting on Sept. 8. The time and location were not included in the press release. Attendees who require special accommodations, including live translation, should contact EPA Region 4 by Aug. 25.
Registration for EPA’s national webinar on Aug. 18, from 7 to 8:30 p.m. is open now.is
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Shelby County Health Department Environmental Protection Agency EPA South Memphis ethylene oxide carcinogenKeely Brewer
Keely Brewer is a Report for America corps member covering environmental impacts on communities of color in Memphis. She is working in partnership with the Ag & Water Desk, a sustainable reporting network aimed at telling water and agriculture stories across the Mississippi River Basin.
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