1.1 What is ethylene oxide? |
1.2 How might I be exposed to ethylene
oxide? |
1.3 How can ethylene oxide enter and leave
my body? |
1.4 How can ethylene oxide affect my health? |
1.5 What levels of exposure have resulted
in harmful health effects? |
1.6 Is there a medical test to determine
whether I have been exposed to ethylene oxide? |
1.7 What recommendations has the federal
government made to protect human health? |
1.8 Where can I get more information? |
References |
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December 1990 |
Public Health Statement |
for |
Ethylene Oxide |
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This Public Health Statement is the
summary chapter from the Toxicological
Profile for ethylene oxide. It is one in a series of Public
Health Statements about hazardous substances and their health
effects. A shorter version, the ToxFAQs™,
is also available. This information is important because this
substance may harm you. The effects of exposure to any hazardous
substance depend on the dose, the duration, how you are exposed,
personal traits and habits, and whether other chemicals are
present. For more information, call the ATSDR Information
Center at 1-888-422-8737.
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This Statement was prepared to give you
information about ethylene oxide and to emphasize the human
health effects that may result from exposure to it. The Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA) has identified 1,177 sites on its
National Priorities List (NPL). Ethylene oxide has not been
definitely identified at any NPL site. However, it has been
tentatively identified at three of these sites. As EPA evaluates
more sites, the number of sites at which ethylene oxide is
found may change. This information is important for you to
know because ethylene oxide may cause harmful health effects
and because these sites are potential or actual sources of
human exposure to ethylene oxide.
When a chemical is released from a large
area, such as an industrial plant, or from a container, such
as a drum or bottle, it enters the environment as a chemical
emission. This emission, which is also called a release, does
not always lead to exposure. You can be exposed to a chemical
only when you come into contact with the chemical. You may
be exposed to it in the environment by breathing, eating,
or drinking substances containing the chemical or from skin
contact with it.
If you are exposed to a hazardous substance
such as ethylene oxide, several factors will determine whether
harmful health effects will occur and what the type and severity
of those health effects will be. These factors include the
dose (how much), the duration (how long), the route or pathway
by which you are exposed (breathing, eating, drinking, or
skin contact the other chemicals to which you are exposed,
and your individual characteristics such as age, sex, nutritional
status, family traits, life style, and state of health.
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1.1
What is ethylene oxide? |
Ethylene oxide (also known as ETO or
oxirane) is a flammable gas with a somewhat sweet odor. It
dissolves easily in water, alcohol, and most organic solvents.
Ethylene oxide is produced in large volumes and is used to
make other chemicals, especially ethylene glycol, a chemical
used to make antifreeze and polyester. Most ethylene oxide
is used up in the factories where it is produced. A very small
amount (less than 1%) is used to control insects on stored
agricultural products such as nuts and spices.
Ethylene oxide is also used in very small
amounts in hospitals to sterilize medical equipment and supplies.
When ethylene oxide is produced or used,
some of the gas is released to air and water. If it is released
into the air, humidity and sunlight cause it to break down
within a few days. In water, ethylene oxide will either break
down or be destroyed by bacteria within a few days.
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1.2
How might I be exposed to ethylene oxide? |
You are not likely to be exposed to ethylene
in the general environment. In studies of the air quality
in Texas and California, no ethylene oxide was found. There
is also no evidence that ethylene oxide is commonly found
in water. Because of the limited information about ethylene
oxide in air, water, or soil at hazardous waste sites, we
do not know how likely it is that you might be exposed to
ethylene oxide at or near these sites.
You may be exposed to ethylene oxide
if you work where it is produced or used. Health care workers,
such as technicians, nurses, and physicians in hospitals and
clinics, may have contact with ethylene oxide because it is
used to sterilize medical equipment and supplies. Since ethylene
oxide is used as a fumigant to spray agricultural products,
if you are a farmer or work on a farm where ethylene oxide
is used, you may also be exposed to this substance.
It is not known if food crops are a source
of exposure to ethylene oxide for the general public. Ethylene
oxide has been found at levels up to 3.5 parts of ethylene
oxide per one million parts of food (3.5 ppm) in some foods
shortly after being sprayed with pesticide that contains it.
These levels decrease with time as ethylene oxide evaporates
or breaks down into other substances, and thus little or none
may remain when the food is eaten.
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1.3
How can ethylene oxide enter and leave my body? |
Ethylene oxide can enter your body when
air containing this substance is breathed into your lungs.
Because ethylene oxide evaporates very easily, it is unlikely
that it remains in or on food or remains dissolved in water
long enough to be eaten or swallowed, although this is not
known for certain. It is not known if ethylene oxide can enter
the body through the skin.
After a person has been exposed to ethylene
oxide, it leaves the body through the urine or feces or by
breathing it out through the lungs. This probably occurs very
rapidly, perhaps within 2 or 3 days.
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1.4
How can ethylene oxide affect my health? |
Ethylene oxide can cause a wide variety
of harmful health effects in exposed persons. In general,
with higher levels of exposure to the chemical, more severe
effects will occur. The major effects seen in workers exposed
to ethylene oxide at low levels for several months or years
are irritation of the eyes, skin, and mucous membranes and
problems in the functioning of the brain and nerves. At higher
levels of exposure to ethylene oxide, which may result from
accidents or equipment breakdown, the types of effects are
similar, but they are more severe and harmful. There is also
some evidence that exposure to ethylene oxide can cause an
increased rate of miscarriages in female workers exposed to
ethylene oxide. Studies in animals have shown that breathing
ethylene oxide at high levels can interfere with their ability
to reproduce. Litter sizes have been smaller than usual, and
the babies of exposed animals have weighed less than normal
and have had delayed bone formation.
Scale studies of workers exposed to ethylene
oxide in ethylene oxide factories or hospital sterilizing
rooms have shown an increased incidence of leukemia, stomach
cancer, cancer of the pancreas and Hodgkin's disease. Ethylene
oxide has also been shown to cause cancer in laboratory animals.
Leukemia, brain tumors, lung tumors and tumors of the tear
glands of the eye have been found.
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1.5
What levels of exposure have resulted in harmful health effects? |
Skin contact with ethylene oxide can
result in blisters and burns that may appear to be similar
to frostbite. With longer times of contact, there is a more
severe reaction. Eye damage can also result from ethylene
oxide contact.
It is possible to smell ethylene oxide
if it is present in water at or above 140 mg per liter (about
one quart) of water. It can also be smelled in air if it is
present at or above 430 ppm (430 parts of ethylene oxide per
million parts of air).
Exposure to high levels (700 ppm) of
ethylene oxide in air has resulted in seizures and cataracts
in people. Exposure to lower levels has resulted in problems
with hand/eye coordination and eye and nose irritation. In
animals, kidney damage has been seen at levels of 100 ppm,
while lower levels (50 ppm) have resulted in decreased physical
activity.
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1.6
Is there a medical test to determine whether I have been exposed
to ethylene oxide? |
There are two kinds of tests that can
determine if you have been exposed to ethylene oxide within
the last couple of days. These tests are not routinely done
in a doctor's office, but can be done in a special laboratory.
One test measures this substance in blood, the other measures
it in air that you breathe out of your lungs. If you were
exposed to ethylene oxide more than two or three days ago,
there may be no ethylene oxide remaining in your body. In
addition, if you have been exposed to very low levels of ethylene
oxide, these tests may not detect it. The results of these
tests cannot be used to predict the type or severity of health
effects resulting from exposure.
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1.7
What recommendations has the federal government made to protect
human health? |
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
has set a tolerance limit of 50 ppm of ethylene oxide
in ground spices. Any release to the environment greater than
10 pounds must be reported to the EPA.
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration
(OSHA) has set a limit of 1 ppm over an 8-hour workday, 40-hour
workweek with a short-term exposure limit (not to exceed 15
minutes) of 5 ppm.
The National Institute of Occupational
Safety and Health (NIOSH) recommends that average workplace
air should contain less than 0.1 ppm ethylene oxide averaged
over a 10-hour workday, 40-hour workweek.
The federal recommendations have been
updated as of July 1999.
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1.8 Where can I get more information? |
If you have any more questions or concerns, please contact
your community or state health or environmental quality department or:
Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry
Division of Toxicology
1600 Clifton Road NE, Mailstop F-32
Atlanta, GA 30333
Information line and technical assistance:
Phone: 888-422-8737
FAX: (770)-488-4178
ATSDR can also tell you the location of occupational and environmental health
clinics. These clinics specialize in recognizing, evaluating, and treating illnesses
resulting from exposure to hazardous substances.
To order toxicological profiles, contact:
National Technical Information Service
5285 Port Royal Road
Springfield, VA 22161
Phone: 800-553-6847 or 703-605-6000
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References
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Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease
Registry (ATSDR). 1990. Toxicological
profile for ethylene oxide. Atlanta, GA: U.S. Department
of Health and Human Services, Public Health Service.
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