How to Spread Awareness:
Learn if there is an ethylene oxide facility in your area here.
Use the interactive mapping tool
Share the tool or information you find with friends and family using text or social media
Information:
Ethylene oxide is a chemical used to sterilize medical equipment and dried food products, and to make certain other chemicals. Ethylene oxide is a toxic threat to many communities across the United States and Puerto Rico. It's an invisible gas that can cause cancer, and it's often emitted from buildings that look inconspicuously like warehouses—no large smokestacks to signal potentially hazardous substances are being released.
Ethylene oxide is under-monitored and not yet regulated with the stringency needed to protect the public's health. There's no required fenceline monitoring and no rules to limit leaks or accidental releases. New research by the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) shows that two types of facilities that emit this cancer-causing gas are disproportionately polluting communities of color, low-income communities, and non-English language speaking communities: this is an environmental injustice.
UCS is fighting this chemical on all fronts: on the ground with impacted communities, in the courts, with regulatory agencies, and we're analyzing the issue and creating tools that you can use to find out if you and your loved ones are impacted.
Find out if facilities that emit ethylene oxide are located in communities near you by using our interactive mapping tool. You can search addresses, zoom in, and click on facilities for additional information.
Share the tools with your family, friends, and colleagues on Facebook and Twitter, or by email.