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This timeline of events related to ethylene oxide (EtO) includes events related to the uses, concerns, litigation, regulation, and legislation, involving the colorless and flammable gas with the formula C
2H
4O. According to an April 2021 United States Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) report commissioned by the United States Congress, ethylene oxide is "used to make chemicals that are needed manufacture a variety of products, including antifreeze, textiles, plastics, detergents, and adhesives.[1][2] It is also used to sterilize medical equipment and other items that cannot be sterilized by other methods such as steam."[1] "Studies have found EtO to be carcinogenic at high concentrations over an extended period of time."[3]

1859 French chemist Charles-Adolphe Wurtz first prepared ethylene oxide by treating 2-chloroethanol with potassium hydroxide as a base.[4]

1914 From 1914 until 1937, ethylene oxide was mainly produced using the chlorohydrin process——through which ethylene chlorohydrin was "converted to ethylene oxide by reaction with calcium oxide."[5]

1931 The chlorohydrin process was replaced by the "direct vapour-phase oxidation process, in which ethylene is oxidized to ethylene oxide with air or oxygen and a silver catalyst.[5][6]

1979 Hogstedt et al. reported the results of a historical prospective mortality study which followed employees at a Swedish EtO production facility from 1960 through 1977.[7]

30 July 1981 Ethylene Oxide Industry Council was established.

mid-1980s Both western Europe and North America introduced "new occupational exposure limits" to ethylene oxide. Levels of exposure decreased significantly in those who had the most exposure—"hospital personnel who perform sterilization operations" and facilities that produce sterilized medical items.[8]

1991 National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) scientists published the findings of their "study of mortality in 18,254 U.S. workers exposed to ethylene oxide at 14 industrial facilities in the USA producing sterilized medical supplies and spices" in the New England Journal of Medicine.[9] The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) working group investigating ethylene oxide reported in 2008 that the study by the NIOSH was at that time the "most informative epidemiological investigation."[10]

2002 Over 30 countries were producing ethylene oxide; annual production capacity was 16.3 million tonnes;[11] and consumption globally reached "14.7 million tonnes".[6][12]

2002 A working group of the International Agency for Research on Cancer—an intergovernmental agency forming part of the World Health Organization of the United Nations—which included a "25 scientists from eight countries" investigated several carcinogenic hazards to humans and classified ethylene oxide as "carcinogenic to humans".[2][Notes 1]

December 2016 The National Center for Environmental Assessment (NCEA) Office of Research and Development U.S. Environmental Protection Agency published a 228-page report that provided "scientific support and rationale for the hazard and dose-response assessment in the Integrated Risk Information System (IRIS) pertaining to carcinogenicity from chronic inhalation exposure to ethylene oxide (EtO)."[13]

2021 Ethylene oxide is "used to sterilize 20 billion medical devices annually in the U.S." alone.[3]

Notes[edit]

  1. ^ a b Chong et al. 2021.
  2. ^ a b IARC 2008.
  3. ^ a b Goethe & Whitaker 2021.
  4. ^ Wurtz 1859.
  5. ^ a b IARC 2008, p. 188.
  6. ^ a b Dever et al. 2004, pp. 632–673.
  7. ^ Hogstedt et al. 1979.
  8. ^ IARC 2008, p. 282.
  9. ^ Steenland et al. 1991.
  10. ^ IARC 2008, p. 283.
  11. ^ Lacson 2003.
  12. ^ IARC 2008, p. 288.
  13. ^ NCEA 2016.

References[edit]

  • Chuong, Bao; Mahgoub, Gaida; Lavenburg, Andrew; McGhee-Lenart, Renee; Narimatsu, Julie (15 April 2021). EPA Delayed Risk Communication and Issued Instructions Hindering Region 5's Ability to Address Ethylene Oxide Emissions (PDF). United States Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) Office Of Inspector General (Report). Washington, D.C. p. 37. Retrieved 30 December 2021.
  • Dever, J.P.; George, K.F.; Hoffman, W.C.; Soo, H. (2004). "Ethylene oxide". In Kroschwitz, J.I.; Howe-Grant, M. (eds.). Kirk-Othmer Encyclopedia of Chemical Technology. Vol. 10. New York: John Wiley & Sons.
  • Hogstedt, Christer; Rohlén, O; Berndtsson, B S; Axelson, O.; Ehrenberg, L (November 1979). "A cohort study of mortality and cancer incidence in ethylene oxide production workers". British Journal of Industrial Medicine. 36 (4): 276–280. ISSN 0007-1072. PMC 1008604. PMID 508639. Retrieved 30 December 2021.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: PMC format (link) 36:276-280 (1979).
  • Hogstedt, Christer; Wegman, David H. (February 2018). "ToxicDocs and the fight against biased public health science worldwide". Journal of Public Health Policy. 39 (1): 15–17. doi:10.1057/s41271-017-0104-x. ISSN 1745-655X. PMID 29348449.
  • 1,3-Butadiene, Ethylene Oxide and Vinyl Halides (Vinyl Fluoride, Vinyl Chloride and Vinyl Bromide) (PDF). International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) (Report). IARC Monographs on the Evaluation of Carcinogenic Risks to Humans Volume. Vol. 97. 2008. pp. 185–287. ISBN 978-92-832-1297-3. Archived from the original (PDF) on 16 January 2017. Retrieved 30 December 2021.

Wurtz, Charles-Adolphe (1859). "Sur l'oxyde d'éthylène". Comptes rendus hebdomadaires des séances de l'Académie des sciences. 48. Paris: Gauthier-Villars: 101–105.

e-4798-ethylene-oxide-safety-data-sheet-sds.pdf (PDF), retrieved 30 December 2021


Notes[edit]

  1. ^ The IRAC Working Group reported that "taking into consideration that: ethylene oxide is an alkylating agent that directly reacts with DNA; it induces a dose-related increase in the amount of haemoglobin adducts in humans and rodents; it induces DNA adducts in rodents; it consistently acts as a mutagen and clastogen at all phylogenetic levels; it induces heritable translocations in the germ cells of rodents; and it induces a dose-related increase in the frequency of sister chromatid exchange, chromosomal aberrations, and micronucleus formation in lymphocytes of exposed workers. The two latter effects have been shown to be associated with an increased risk for human cancer."

References[edit]

[[Category:Chemistry timelines

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