Congressmen from Illinois and Georgia have formed a bipartisan task force to pressure the Environmental Protection Agency to place stricter limits on ethylene oxide (EtO) emissions from medtech sterilization and other industrial uses. Illinois Democrat Rep. Brad Schneider and Georgia Republican Rep. Jody Hice put together the task force in support of a bill Schneider introduced in […]
Federal agencies will control the fate of medtech’s most-used sterilization method
The fate of the medical device industry’s most widely used sterilization process lies in the hands of the Environmental Protection Agency. The EPA gave the medtech industry mixed signals in November about the gas used to sterilize billions of devices annually. The agency said it might seek to cut industrial emissions of ethylene oxide (EtO) […]
How can medtech overcome its ethylene oxide sterilization crisis?
Until recently, the debate over the widely used sterilant gas ethylene oxide (EtO) has been largely waged on state and local levels in the U.S. But now it’s going public at the federal level. From city council chambers to judges’ chambers, through volleys of press releases and the clamor of citizen picket lines, the stream of information […]
Battles over sterilization plants intensify as industry warnings about shortages grow
The fight over plants that use ethylene oxide (EO) to sterilize medical devices is escalating across the country. New proposed legislation in Illinois would ban the use of the carcinogenic gas by sterilizers by 2021 and by hospitals by 2022, according to reports by the Chicago Tribune. A legislative hearing on the bill is scheduled for […]
Ga. wants more emissions testing at Sterigenics’ Atlanta sterilization plant
Georgia state officials want more test results from Sterigenics before they will allow the company to reopen its medtech sterilization plant in Atlanta. In a letter dated Wednesday, the state Environmental Protection Division (EPD) told Sterigenics to test new emissions-control equipment that the company installed after voluntarily closing the plant Aug. 26, and to report […]
BD Georgia sterilization plant leaked 54 lbs. of ethylene oxide in September
A weeklong valve leak at a Becton Dickinson (NYSE:BDX) medtech sterilization plant in Covington, Ga., released 54 lbs. of ethylene oxide into the air, according to a City of Covington incident report obtained by a local TV station. The plant began experiencing intermittent elevated levels of EO indoors Sept. 15, but inspections and systems checks failed to locate the […]
A ‘rolling effect’ on medtech sterilization plants?
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 […]
Sterigenics to abandon Illinois plant
Sterigenics said yesterday that it’s planning to shutter an Illinois plant that uses ethylene oxide to sterilize medical devices, little more than a week after winning approval to reopen the facility. The Illinois Environmental Protection Agency moved last year to temporarily close the plant, which shut down in February, citing excessive emissions of EO, a […]
U.S. EPA readies new rule on EO emissions
This article has been updated with a comment from AdvaMed. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency will require medtech sterilization companies to provide information to help it formulate a new rule governing emissions of ethylene oxide. The EPA recently said that in October, it will ask for data on specific sterilization facility characteristics, control devices, work practices […]
Illinois issues construction permit to Sterigenics for EO plant
The Illinois Environmental Protection Agency on Friday issued a permit to Sterigenics to begin construction to update emissions controls at its Willowbrook medtech sterilization plant. For the plant to reopen, Sterigenics must submit plans for emissions testing and air monitoring to the state EPA. It also must provide the state agency with certification from each device’s manufacturer […]
FDA warns of more medical device shortages due to sterilization plant shutdown
This article has been updated with a comment from Sterigenics and a correction on the location of the Georgia plant. The FDA warned last week about the potential for more medical device shortages, this time due to the temporary shutdown of a Sterigenics ethylene oxide (EO) plant in Atlanta, Ga. The Atlanta plant uses ethylene […]
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