US EPA requires chemical makers to cut ethylene oxide emissions

Chemical makers must curb ethylene oxide leaks, though not nearly as much as the US Environmental Protection Agency had proposed last year. Chemical production facilities collectively will have to cut emissions of this carcinogenic gas from storage tanks, vents, and leaky equipment by 0.69 metric tons per year, under a rule the EPA unveiled June 1. This is less than a tenth of the reduction of ethylene oxide releases by manufacturers of miscellaneous organic chemicals that the agency proposed in November. Ethylene oxide, a basic chemical building block made from natural gas or petroleum, is used to make a raft of products from plastics to medicines and is carcinogenic. The compound is also used to sterilize medical equipment.