Scientists using more modern methods of measuring the carcinogen ethylene oxide have found much higher levels of the chemical along a corridor in southeastern Louisiana than expected. The researchers drove two vans using different, but updated measuring equipment multiple times over the course of a month.
The community of Geismar is seen in the shadow of a chemical and petroleum industrial corridor, that is a known source of ethylene oxide emissions, in Ascension Parish, La., Friday, June 7, 2024. A chemical and petroleum industrial corridor, that is a known source of ethylene oxide emissions, is seen along the Mississippi River from this aerial photo, in Ascension Parish, La., Friday, June 7, 2024.
Ethylene oxide is produced in large amounts and used to make a main ingredient in antifreeze and polyester. It’s also used to sterilize food, cosmetics and medical equipment and as a pesticide. The Johns Hopkins study involved two vans that drove the same routes repeatedly over the course of a month last year. Researchers used instruments that measure gases in real time as they flow through a high-intensity light. The vans used two different instruments, yet they measured similar results, bolstering researchers’ confidence in the testing.
“When you think about all the other chemicals that are in play and all of the other concerns that we may have about people who live in Cancer Alley and the other life stressors they have to deal with, they may be less resilient to an exposure to ethylene oxide than someone in the general population,” Nachman said. “So, you know, if if you were to say, what’s the appropriate level or what should the acceptable risk be? It should probably be lower than 1 in 10,000 people out there.
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