Rep. Dan Lipinski (D-Ill.) wants a Willowbrook, Ill., facility emitting ethylene oxide, a suspected carcinogen, to shut down unless data can show the facility isn’t a threat to human health.
Lipinski’s comment came after the Environmental Protection Agency’s results from three rounds of air testing for ethylene oxide emissions near a Sterigenics U.S. LLC facility which uses the chemical to sterilize medical equipment.
The tests, taken in November and released Dec. 7, showed emissions exceeded 6 micrograms per cubic meter of air at two of eight monitoring sites. Ethylene oxide levels at the six other sites, including schools ...