In 1997, Cosmed Group Inc. acquired a commercial sterilization plant in an industrial, rural area north of Route 94. Like other such facilities, it uses ethylene oxide to sterilize medical devices. According to the EPA, it also installed a catalytic oxidizer to control emissions.
Cosmed also has a facility in Linden, where ethylene oxide is used to sterilize agricultural products like spices and nuts. The facility opened in 1986 and operates four sterilizers that were installed between 1986 and 2000 and uses a two-stage scrubbing control system to control emissions, according to the EPA.
While conducting research to develop new emission rules, EPA investigators discovered elevated cancer risks in 23 communities. The agency plans to propose stronger regulations later this year for hazardous emissions, including ethylene oxide.
Ethylene Oxide and Cancer
Manufacturers use EtO to make detergents, thickeners, solvents, and plastics. Ethylene oxide is also a component in various chemical compounds, such as various organic chemicals such as ethylene glycol, ethanolamines, simple and complex glycols, and polyglycol ethers.
This versatile chemical is often used as a hospital disinfectant and a key ingredient in many pesticides, mostly because it alters cellular DNA.
Because of this quality, EtO can cause various kinds of cancer, including leukemia and lymphoma. Stomach and breast cancers may also be associated with ethylene oxide exposure. In addition to eye pain and sore throat, exposure to EtO causes difficulty breathing, blurred vision, dizziness, nausea, headache, convulsions, blisters, coughing, and vomiting.
It’s also linked to spontaneous abortion, genetic damage, nerve damage, peripheral paralysis, muscle weakness, and cognitive impairment.
Because of these hazards, strict Occupational Safety and Health Administration exposure rules apply.
Cancer Treatment Costs
Direct EtO exposure is life altering but not life threatening, while EtO fume inhalation is both.
Survival rates for most kinds of cancer have increased dramatically since the 1990s, mostly due to innovations in cancer treatments, as follows:
Additionally, doctors can force cancer into remission, but they cannot cure it. This progress saves lives, but it isn’t cheap. Advanced cancer treatments often cost thousands of dollars a month. Cancer patients often pay these expenses for life.
An experienced environmental contamination lawyer can obtain the financial resources these victims need to overcome their medical conditions. This compensation also includes substantial money for pain and suffering.
Your Claim for Damages
Ethylene oxide poisoning victims usually have one of two legal options, which sometimes overlap, depending on the facts of the case.
Workers’ Compensation
Job-related EtO exposure victims are typically entitled to no-fault benefits which replace lost wages and pay medical bills.
Strict time deadlines apply in these cases. These deadlines normally aren’t an issue in EtO contact claims, but the deadline could be an issue in toxic exposure claims. By the time these victims know they’re sick, the time deadline has long passed.
A variation of the delayed discovery rule usually applies in these situations. Job injury victims may only file claims if they know the full extent of their injuries and they connect those injuries with a job-related incident.
Negligence
Ambient (environmental) exposure victims can partner with an environmental litigator and file a civil damage claim, usually a negligence claim.
Negligence is basically a lack of care; OSHA rules establish the standard of care in these cases. If a company falls short of these rules, and that breach of duty caused injury, compensation is available.
Frequently, these two areas overlap. Many job injury victims may file legal claims against EtO suppliers and other responsible third parties.
Ethylene oxide exposure causes serious injuries. For a free consultation, contact us today. We do not charge upfront legal fees in these matters and only recover a fee when we win your case.