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| Dear Friend, |
| The Environmental Protection Agency is finally tackling one of the most toxic air pollutants it regulates — but we need to make sure industry doesn’t get its way and we end up with a weaker rule. |
| Ethylene oxide is a colorless, typically odorless, flammable gas used to make other chemicals, plastic, and to sterilize medical equipment and spices. Ethylene oxide is also an aggressive carcinogen, especially when inhaled. Long-term exposure causes damage to the nervous system and increases people’s risk of developing cancer, leukemia, and other terminal illnesses. |
| Facilities that emit ethylene oxide are typically found in low-income neighborhoods and communities of color, many of which are already grappling with elevated toxic exposure and health risks from multiple forms of industrial pollution. |
| The proposed regulations would require all sterilizer facilities to reduce emissions by installing pollution control technology. According to the EPA, these regulations could eliminate an estimated 80% of ethylene oxide emissions from these facilities once implemented. |
| While the proposed rule is an overdue and much needed first step, industry has argued that it goes too far and would like EPA to weaken it and give them additional compliance time. But communities have suffered for decades under an EPA rule that has allowed ethylene oxide emissions to threaten their health; they cannot afford additional delays. |
| The White House is currently reviewing the rule, and we need to send a message to the Biden administration to put our health before the will of industry. |
| It’s time for the EPA to implement the strongest possible protections for people exposed to this toxic pollutant. The agency must put people’s health and safety above industries’ profits by passing the strongest regulations possible. |
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Sincerely,
Daniel Savery
Senior Legislative Representative,
Policy and Legislation |
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| Photo Credits: Clean Air Laredo Coalition and Rio Grande International Study Center rally in front of Midwest Sterilizer facility in Laredo, TX. The facility ranks among the most polluting facilities in the nation of ethylene oxide emissions. (RGISC) |
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