The types of regulatory hurdles that contributed to the permanent closure this week of the Sterigenics medtech sterilization plant in Willowbrook, Ill., have created a “rolling effect” on ethylene oxide (EO) plants around the country, according to an industry official.
The state of Illinois temporarily shut down the Willowbrook plant in February over emissions of EO, a colorless, odorless gas that the federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) considers a carcinogen. The plant’s sudden closure caused some device shortages and a push by the FDA to come up with ways to improve EO sterilization as well as alternative sterilization methods.
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