EPA Clamps Down on Carcinogenic Disinfectant

 

A medical sterilization facility in Georgia.

New EPA rules require stricter controls and manufacturers and users of ethylene oxide widely used to disinfect medical instruments and equipment.  The rules respond to recent research indicating that the compound is even more carcinogenic in humans that previously thought.

The New York Times reports that the new rules require sterilizing plants and any other facilities that use the gaseous compound to reduce emissions by 90%.  The gas is used to disinfect about half the medical equipment made in the United States.

The NYT also reports that the gas is an irritant to eyes, nose, throat and lungs when inhaled.  It can cause damage to the nervous and reproductive systems.  It is linked to cancers of the breast and lymphoid systems.  Analysis indicates that some 13 million people in the neighborhood of the 90 facilities using the gas would benefit from the reduced risk of cancer resulting from the new rules.

There has long been controversy about the dangers of the compound resulting in lawsuits and studies according to the NYT article.  The rules will be phased in over a period of time to assure a steady supply of sterilized medical equipment.

The EPA notes on its website that "As of now, EtO is the only method available to sterilize some medical devices that cannot be sterilized using heat or radiation".  The new rules have been reported in a number of sources(E&E News-Politico, CNN, CBS, and others) but the unique properties of EtO and the difficulties of finding a replacement have not been much discussed.

The structure of ethylene oxide is depicted above.  It's chemical reactivity is characterizeed by the ease with which the bonds in the three-membered ring can be broken.  It tends to donate an oxygen atom or sometimes a methylene (CH2).  This chemistry is the key to its activity as both a disinfectant and a carcinogen.  It is also important that it is a gas at room temperature and penetrates textile and plastic devices effectively.

Trafficking of Green House Gases is being Prosecuted

   The article First prosecution in the US for trafficking greenhouse gases from author Rebecca Trager in the Chemistry World news website explains that a California man has been arrested and charged with smuggling greenhouse gases into the US from Mexico and selling them. This is the first time that the DOJ has prosecuted anybody for this type of crime. The article is backed by a source of Indigo Molecular Images, the Science Photo Library, and DOJ records, which are backed by scientific and medical experts. 

        The article describes a man by the name of Micheal Heart, who was charged for importing hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) which are commonly used as refrigerants. The chemical HCFC-22 (left) and HFCs were important to the California man, and it is described as a potent ozone-depleting gas that can destroy ozone (right) in the stratosphere. Ozone depletion is said to cause increased amounts of UV radiation, which can lead to skin cancer.

       The relation to chemistry is that HFCs are compounds containing carbon, hydrogen, and fluoride. They are man-made organic compounds and are gases at room temperature. Again, their chemical properties make them very useful in refrigeration as they are highly incombustible.

        The article then describes that there is a global warming potential in HFC which can be hundreds to thousands times that of carbon dioxide. It also describes that HCFC-22, which is commonly used as a propellant and refrigerant was phased out in developed countries under the Montreal Protocol because of its ozone-depleting properties. The article mentions no substitutes for the chemical, but the European Union states that hydrocarbons and ammonia are safe and energy-efficient alternatives to HFCs.

       Green-house gases are being phased out in modern countries. The effects of these chemicals are Ozone-depleting and can cause significant risk to life and health. HFCs used in refrigeration and air conditioning were once very popular, but their global warming potency has caused them to be phased out. Now, people are being prosecuted for smuggling these potent gases across the border. This shows the importance of these chemical compounds, and how they are useful in utilities, but detrimental to the Earth's atmosphere.

Sources:

https://www.chemistryworld.com/news/first-prosecution-in-the-us-for-trafficking-greenhouse-gases/4019110.article

https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdca/pr/san-diego-man-first-nation-be-charged-smuggling-potent-greenhouse-gases-united-states

https://www.tn.gov/health/cedep/environmental/environmental-health-topics/eht/ozone.html#:~:text=Ozone%20depletion%20can%20cause%20increased,fatal%20of%20all%20skin%20cancers.

 

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle: Fixing the issue with E-waste

     

     In the pursuit of mass production of electronic parts necessary for our modern technological way of life all over the world, we have amassed a large amount of electronic waste(E-waste) which can be defined as unwanted used electronic devices/parts and the refuse they produce. These large dumps of waste not only take up massive amounts of space and can potentially become toxic but they also have large amounts of valuable materials like copper, cobalt, and gold that are stuck attached to thrown away reusable parts. Thankfully there are processes by which it is possible to remove said materials from E-waste and save the recyclable materials through chemical means: some call it "ubran mining". In an article from ETH Zurich, they explain a new non-toxic process by which they are able to recover gold from E-waste. 

    The process by which they recovered gold was by using a sponge made of denatured whey protein matrixes. Said proteins would form together into nano-fibrils in a gel structure. After drying the structure becomes a sponge capable of selectively absorbing gold from ionized metals. After absorbing the gold ions the sponge can be heated until the gold forms into flakes and can be removed and reused for new purposes. Their test resulted in a 91% gold nugget with the other 9% being mostly copper.

    Another example of chemically stripping precious metals from E-waste is hydrometallurgy or using liquid-based chemical reactions to remove said metals. EU researchers were able to break down computer parts into centimeters worth of pieces, they then put them in an acid solution to break down the metals and then subjected them to chemical reduction(ascorbic acid for E-waste). This method, which was tried with different acids, was also particularly effective with it leaching 99% of the gold, 89% of platinum, and 100% palladium. 

    In the end, it is possible for governments around the world to partially reduce the amount of E-waste, pollution, and wasted resources produced by the ever-churning need for more technology by simply pushing more for these sorts of methods of material recovery. The protein sponge method is even made to be more cost-effective than simply dumping or using pyrometallurgical methods(which is also less eco-friendly). However, while better options are always being studied and tested massive change will be slow with our current system so all we can do is spread awareness and advocate for these changes

References:

    - Bergamin, Fabio. “Turning Waste into Gold.” ETH Zurich, ethz.ch/en/news-and-events/eth-news/news/2024/03/turning-waste-into-gold.html. Accessed 12 Mar. 2024.

    -N/a. “Electronic Hazardous Waste (E-Waste).” Dtsc.ca.Gov, dtsc.ca.gov/electronic-hazardous-waste/. Accessed 12 Mar. 2024.

- N/a, Directorate-General for Environment. “E-Waste: Chemical Processing Without Heat May Offer Efficient Method of Recovering Metals from End-of-Life Products.” Environment, 12 Oct. 2022, environment.ec.europa.eu/news/e-waste-chemical-processing-without-heat-may-offer-efficient-method-recovering-metals-end-life-2022-10-12_en#:~:text=The%20process%20involves%20leaching%20elements,central%20processing%20units%20(CPUs).

Posted for Antonio Kamin