Uses & Products

Ethylene oxide is a common hospital disinfectant used to kill microorganisms on surgical equipment and plastic devices that cannot be sterilized by steam. An ethylene oxide sterilization unit typically includes a soaking chamber and an aeration chamber to recover residual disinfectant.

Health Concerns

Ethylene oxide is a potent irritant and asthmagen.

Survey Findings

0 percent of more than 1,500 nurses surveyed reported on-the-job exposures. In our survey, nurses with frequent, long-term exposures to ethylene oxide (at least weekly for at least ten years) reported 45 percent higher rates of asthma than other nurses.

Exposure and disease frequencies provided represent responses from more than 1,500 nurses to an online survey concerning their job history, their health, and the health of their children. Analysis of these data show that nurses highly exposed to ethylene oxide reported a number of health problems at higher rates than other nurses.

Note: This survey was not "controlled" — it was open to any nurse interested in responding. Therefore, it is not possible to cannot draw rigorous, scientific conclusions from the data. But the survey does show that many nurses exposed to chemicals and other hazards on the job are experiencing health problems. More research is critically needed.

Exposures are prevalent: 1,552 nurses & ethylene oxide

0% are now or were ever exposed on the job

0% of nurses exposed while pregnant

0% of nurses exposed currently or over past 5 years

0% of nurses exposed routinely (at least once per week) for 10 years or more

Commonly reported health problems

Among the 0 nurses routinely exposed**:<

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SELECT distinct healthoutcome1to1.id FROM healthoutcome1to1,employ_exposure WHERE child_id=0 AND healthoutcome1to1.id=employ_exposure.id AND (diagnosis LIKE "reproductive, any (MALES)") AND chemical IN ('ethylene_oxide') AND ( years_some + years_reg+years_day)>=10