Ethylene Oxide: How It Affects Our Lives and Health Risks

[00:00:00] You might not realize it, but we are exposed to dozens of hazards every day.

[00:00:05] Can any of these hazards negatively impact your health?

[00:00:09] Definitely this is the Exposure Scientist podcast.

[00:00:13] My name is Alex LeBeau and here we answer your questions and concerns on what you may be exposed to every day.

[00:00:21] Welcome to the Exposure Scientist podcast.

[00:00:25] The views expressed in this podcast may not be those of the host or management.

[00:00:30] This podcast is for informational purposes only and should not be considered health advice.

[00:00:34] It is recommended that you consult the Exposure Scientist to discuss the particulars of your Exposure scenario.

[00:00:42] Hello, and welcome to today's episode of the Exposure Scientist podcast.

[00:00:46] One thing I like to cover on the podcast are subjects that are applicable to both other professionals

[00:00:52] and the Exposure Scientist, Dr. Rina, and to the general population or people that are generally not really aware of what they may be exposed to in a normal everyday scenario.

[00:01:05] I recently had the opportunity to write an article on a substance called Ethylene Oxide.

[00:01:11] Many of the professionals are probably aware of Ethylene Oxide and have an understanding of some of the exposure problems related to it.

[00:01:19] But just to provide context for individuals who are in the general population who may have heard of this substance or may not have, let me just give you some context for it.

[00:01:31] Ethylene Oxide is used in a number of different manufacturing processes.

[00:01:37] The most familiar one you're probably familiar with are used to is use of anaphrase.

[00:01:43] Ethylene glycol is used for manufacturing antifrees within your vehicles.

[00:01:49] Other options for use include use of it is something called a surfactant which reduces the surface tension and certain application as used for adhesive fiberglass perfumes and textiles.

[00:02:06] It's even used to create lithium ion batteries that are found in your electric vehicles.

[00:02:11] There are some uses within personal care products like cosmetics and shampoos.

[00:02:18] And interestingly, if you're not aware of this, there are established thresholds for use of ethylene oxide as a sterile ent in food applications.

[00:02:28] Ethylene Oxide is registered with the EPA for sterilization for use in certain scenarios, but it's also registered with FDA.

[00:02:37] It's available for use on spices and herbs for sterilizing them.

[00:02:42] Some of the examples are licorice, sesame seeds and the spears.

[00:02:47] But there are thresholds that FDA has determined that there are safe levels of exposure up to those thresholds without any elevated risk from exposure to those.

[00:02:58] Ethylene Oxides use in a lot of different scenarios.

[00:03:02] It's used for consumer products, but it's also used on large scale scenarios as well.

[00:03:08] Again, why many of the exposure scientists would be familiar with this because there are uses and industrial settings not only for many factors, but for sterilization.

[00:03:18] So I'm going to go into a little bit of what the concern with ethylene oxide exposure is where it kind of came from and what is being done about that.

[00:03:31] And what are the consequences, I'll say, from what's being done to deal with ethylene oxide.

[00:03:39] So ethylene oxide is a very effective antimicrobial.

[00:03:45] And so the antimicrobial means something that is going to eliminate, reduce or eliminate tests on microbes on a surface.

[00:03:54] Ethylene oxide is very often used to sterilize medical devices or medical equipment in many different scenarios.

[00:04:04] So when you talk about medical devices, it could be medical implants that are used within human bodies that are going to be sterilized.

[00:04:12] And need to be sterilized to a sufficient level to ensure that there is no reaction or there is no implantation of any microbes within the body once it's used in the human body.

[00:04:26] A lot of these sterilization processes occur at facilities at a large scale facilities.

[00:04:34] There are you may have heard from some of them in the news, you can easily search them up and find them if you type in something like ethylene oxide.

[00:04:43] Fugitive exposure by standard exposure, you're going to find a lot of information about it online.

[00:04:49] The important thing here is I wanted to steal that information to help you understand what the hazards may be, what the risks may be from it.

[00:04:59] So in those large types of scenarios.

[00:05:03] There are physical plants, large plants that use a large amount of ethylene oxide to sterilize these types of medical devices.

[00:05:11] And this is one application.

[00:05:13] This is a bigger application which is why it gets a lot of attention.

[00:05:17] The sterilization used in the ethylene oxide facilities is typically in I'll say what is identified as a closed system.

[00:05:30] These systems are done to ensure that there is minimalized,

[00:05:36] released of material into the atmosphere into the ambient air outside the facility.

[00:05:47] One thing that has popped up is there has been concern that there are unaccounted for fugitive emissions from these types of facilities.

[00:06:00] And the concern is that there are increased risks for individuals who are living around these sterilization facilities.

[00:06:11] And a number of different cities across the United States and you're interested, it's easy to find on EPA's website.

[00:06:19] What those facilities are, where they are, and even who manufactured or who owned them and who ran them.

[00:06:26] It is something to consider because again, there are processes in place.

[00:06:33] I said I mentioned a closed system that these sterilizations occur in.

[00:06:42] There are recognized what are be I'll say one or two chamber systems.

[00:06:47] There are typically the steps generally the steps of all a fumigation as the sterilization of the equipment to ensure that there are no my or micro-present on the need of the surfaces.

[00:07:00] And then there's what's called an air ration.

[00:07:02] That air-ation process is the desorption of any ethnic oxide from the material.

[00:07:11] So there's none remaining on that material once it leaves the process of the facility and that material is desorbed and captured.

[00:07:19] So there's no release.

[00:07:22] Are there releases EPA has done some evaluations?

[00:07:27] So starting in the mid 2010s using what's called the National Air Toxic Assessment EPA identify that they were ethylene oxide detections and a number of different communities.

[00:07:40] So these surrounding these sterilization facilities.

[00:07:44] They were evaluated on what's called a census block.

[00:07:48] So generally if you think of the census in the United States or certain areas or certain districts, these census blocks are used by the EPA to understand what risks are and identify what exposures may have been.

[00:08:02] So there are ambient monitors that were set up out there and these facilities are these areas or census blocks.

[00:08:07] And they monitored for fugitive releases of ethylene oxide.

[00:08:14] Why were these fugitive emissions or fugitive releases occurring?

[00:08:18] Let's start there.

[00:08:19] Well, it could be a number of different scenarios.

[00:08:22] It could be that there was ineffective industrial hygiene controls set up again from the industrial hygiene perspective of what we do as exposure scientists.

[00:08:32] We recognize anticipate recognized evaluate and control those hazards.

[00:08:36] So if the processes to control those hazards were not effective or not validated, verified, there could have been fugitive releases.

[00:08:49] That is a number of different scenarios I don't have information one way or the other if that was occurring or how this occurring is a potential way that it could happen.

[00:08:57] What were the incidental releases that were occurred during sterilization? Someone accidentally opened a chamber before they should have or when they should not have.

[00:09:07] You know, was there any rule leaking of the material and around any of those controls due to deferred maintenance or were there accidental releases that were just large releases that were just unintentional.

[00:09:20] There's a lot of different scenarios.

[00:09:22] But again, EPA identified that there were detections of ethylene oxide surrounding these facilities that were sterilizing these medical equipment.

[00:09:35] And based on that what they did is they have performed some modeling and some risk assessments to identify whether or not ethylene oxide presents a hazard.

[00:09:47] So what are the potential hazards for ethylene oxide?

[00:09:51] So generally, I would again exposure scientists break things down into acute exposures and chronic exposures acute are very sudden.

[00:10:01] And it's a lot of it.

[00:10:02] Chronic exposures occur over a period of time, months or years.

[00:10:07] And the acute effects or example would be any some kind of neuro toxicity, some kind of central nervous system impact where it may be dizziness or lightheadedness or something like that.

[00:10:21] But there's the concern that exposure to ethylene oxide will also cause cancer.

[00:10:27] So the concern for cancer was a big driver in what the EPA was doing to assess the risk of ethylene oxide.

[00:10:38] So for this risk assessment purpose, ethylene oxide was identified as a carcinogenic hazard.

[00:10:45] Now one organization that identified ethylene oxide as a carcinogenic hazard was a group called the International Agency for Research on Cancer, IARC and they are through the World Health Organization WHO.

[00:11:00] So based on this identification by IARC that there is a potential hazard or carcinogenic or cancer hazard from it.

[00:11:10] The number of different risk assessments were performed to determine whether or not there were any human health risks from exposure to this.

[00:11:21] This is where it gets a little interesting and it gets a little, I'll say a little bit squirrely to be honest is you know there is no I'll say one consensus model on which carcinogenic or when cancer endpoint should be evaluated.

[00:11:38] And which would be the appropriate modeling or that.

[00:11:43] So you have to think of individual exposures and think of yourself when you're at home, you know what these typical models and exposures think of is what are someone's ambient exposures going to be in the community that is surrounding these sterilization facilities.

[00:12:04] And it gets interesting to think about that because if you think of yourself, if you get up in your morning, you have slept all night inside your house or a number of hours hopefully eight hours.

[00:12:18] But I know not all of us can be that lucky.

[00:12:20] You get up, you do your morning routine and you leave your house and go to work. Sometimes work is five miles away sometimes it's 15 or 20 miles away from your house.

[00:12:33] You spend eight nine hours there maybe 30 minutes each way, committing maybe have to go get kids at school.

[00:12:38] Maybe you have other errands to run and maybe you don't get home until five or six o'clock at night.

[00:12:46] Then you start your evening routine, you go to bed and it starts all over again.

[00:12:50] You go inside your house, maybe you play for a little while outside.

[00:12:53] So what are your potential exposures?

[00:12:58] What kind of facilities are you living in single family homes, multi-family homes?

[00:13:05] When was the home built?

[00:13:07] What kind of systems are treating the home and I say treating as far as providing mechanical ventilations to the home?

[00:13:15] Are you relying on only mechanical ventilation for example?

[00:13:19] I am in Orlando. It's human. It's hot.

[00:13:27] Exposure science covers a broad subject area, including tax ecology and industrial hygiene and risk assessment.

[00:13:34] From occupational community or environmental exposure, exposure scientists apply scientific methodologies to understand exposure risks in applied controls when necessary.

[00:13:45] We at exposure assessment consulting have this expertise.

[00:13:49] Reach out to us at info at exposureconsulting.com for a free 15 minute consultation to discuss the specifics of your exposure scenario.

[00:14:04] Use a lot of mechanical ventilation here to cool the air to a comfortable level.

[00:14:10] There are other areas in facilities that don't use as much and they use, I'll say natural ventilation opening windows.

[00:14:16] All their homes may be a little more gap prone as far as air infiltration versus newer homes.

[00:14:23] So what I'm trying to get at is what is your realistic exposure when you are at home?

[00:14:31] Or when you are exposed to something in the environment?

[00:14:35] Again, I mentioned acute and I mentioned chronic.

[00:14:38] Most of the risk assessments are done using a chronic type exposure scenario.

[00:14:44] What is chronic type exposure mean?

[00:14:46] Well, that means they're looking at things where you're there presuming things of what your exposures are.

[00:14:55] And what that presumption typically is is, okay, well, if somebody is exposed to something that we identify as a carcinogen,

[00:15:02] then we do a risk assessment using mathematical models.

[00:15:06] And to understand what the potential risk is, we are conservative in that assessment.

[00:15:16] So in the EPA and other assessments that were done, they said, okay, well, we're going to presume that there were exposures for 24 hours a day.

[00:15:26] They were exposed for the entire year.

[00:15:29] And based on those exposures, because how risk assessments are done for carcinogens, this is a whole other different discussion.

[00:15:38] But for carcinogens, we're going to average at over a 70 year lifetime.

[00:15:42] Exposure science covers a broad subject area, including tax ecology and industrial hygiene and risk assessment.

[00:15:49] From occupational community or environmental exposure exposure scientists apply scientific methodologies to understand exposure risks in applied controls when necessary.

[00:16:00] We at exposure assessment consulting have this expertise.

[00:16:04] Please reach out to us at info at exposureconsulting.com for a free 15 minute consultation to discuss the specifics of your exposure scenario.

[00:16:15] What are your actual exposures when you are thinking about how long you may be not only in your house, but maybe outside your house?

[00:16:26] Because again, remember these exposures, these ambient exposures were measured in the outside ambient environment.

[00:16:34] What are your exposures within your house?

[00:16:37] What are exposures within businesses that are in these census blocks are close to this?

[00:16:42] A lot of them don't have a lot of homes, don't have fresh air intakes on their HVAC systems.

[00:16:48] They're very much a closed system and so to speak.

[00:16:51] Again, people don't really have windows open down where I am and northern areas they may.

[00:16:58] But ambient conditions may also dictate what the exposures and concentrations are.

[00:17:02] So when you think about how these risk assessments are performed in these models that are used for identifying it,

[00:17:11] you have to consider what are your potential exposures or what are your exposures going to be in a realistic way.

[00:17:19] If you're at work for 80 or 90 hours or 10 hours a day and you're out running errands and you're not home much,

[00:17:27] Are you an increased risk?

[00:17:29] And that's hard to answer with some of the assessments that are done because they are using these very conservative assessment models.

[00:17:38] So taking a step back.

[00:17:41] If you think about the assessments that are the exposures that I discussed previously about sterilization facilities and I'm giving them a lot of discussion here,

[00:17:50] but there's going to be additional discussion in a little later on about other types.

[00:17:54] You have to think about, okay, well, there are established occupational exposure thresholds.

[00:18:01] We think occupational, you think OSHA.

[00:18:03] There are thresholds that are established for determining what exposures in the.

[00:18:10] Employment type scenario is and how to protect employees.

[00:18:14] And that's where a lot of the focus was for many years on this. What were the exposures that an employee would have in these types of facilities?

[00:18:24] As the EPA identified in the 2010s when they're identifying these fugitive concentrations, I say fugitive ambient releases are ambient air concentrations outside of ethylene oxide.

[00:18:38] A new type of exposure model had to be identified and what they have used and others have used here is what's called the bystandard receptor model.

[00:18:49] You're not employed.

[00:18:51] You're not working there, you're not using the materials, but you are just simply a bystander to the exposure.

[00:18:58] So when you're performing these models where you're looking at 24 hours exposures for entire year average over 70 years.

[00:19:07] They are considering those as bystandard exposures. So what are the potential bystandard exposures? And like I said,

[00:19:17] how are you being a bystander? Is it from being outside? Is it from being inside and outside? Those are things that play into how we expose your scientists think about this from a realistic standpoint,

[00:19:30] instead of a conservative theoretical standpoint when doing these types of risk assessments.

[00:19:38] So these assessments have been done and interestingly, they have had a few iterations over the years.

[00:19:45] And I say that because the Carsonogenic endpoint that has been identified, I'll say, has changed a little bit.

[00:20:00] So EPA is a group that performs these types of risk assessments on exposures.

[00:20:10] EPA has identified that's exposure to ethylene oxide is Carsonogenic to humans.

[00:20:23] There's also another group called the National Talks Technology Program and T.P.

[00:20:28] It has performed a regulatory review of epidemiology studies and other studies to identify and come to that same conclusion.

[00:20:39] What's interesting is that a different group, I live in Texas for a few years.

[00:20:47] So those were in Texas maybe familiar with this. They are a group called the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, T.C.E.Q.

[00:20:54] They performed assessments using their modeling and their understanding and their review of the data.

[00:21:03] And they identified that it is, I think an oxide is likely to be Carsonogenic to humans.

[00:21:10] So from the scientific standpoint, there's slight nuance differences between determining whether something is likely to be Carsonogenic to humans and being actually identified as Carsonogenic to humans.

[00:21:24] So that goes within the modeling and how you do the modeling and how you do the assessments and how you do the data interpretation.

[00:21:31] And I mentioned earlier the types of cancer that is evaluated and who may be at risk for that and what the data show actually there I'll say some disagreements between different organizations on the outcome.

[00:21:48] So there are data that suggests that there are for lack of better terminology blood cancers associated with exposure to ethylene oxide and breast cancer,

[00:22:05] and so you're associated with exposure to ethylene oxide.

[00:22:09] So organizations identify that both are potential outcome and points and others say well we only identify one of those the data is not supportive of the other.

[00:22:19] So when you're looking at the risk assessments that are performed, do you have to understand what endpoints are they looking at and how do they differ and why do they differ?

[00:22:27] Because understanding why they differ is just as important as determining how they differ what exactly methodology that they're using.

[00:22:38] So another difference here is that EPA in 2016.

[00:22:50] They determine a risk characterization or cancer risk characterization and that iteration change over a few years.

[00:23:02] They have evolved slightly and the EPA has gone back and forth about that.

[00:23:07] They are one point we're using what exposure scientists call a linear risk assessment model.

[00:23:15] But they have changed that assessment recent years to go to use a different model TCEQ uses slightly different model use different inputs they use different endpoints and when they do that there are discrepancies sometimes the discrepancies are a few order of magnitude in difference.

[00:23:36] So when we as exposure scientists come to the information we have to take all of it into consideration.

[00:23:44] With the different methodologies are with the different risk assessment paradigms are that are used by different agencies and organizations and that's why I look.

[00:23:53] And again they're being protective of all populations and subpopulations.

[00:23:58] And that's why their assessments are conservative in nature when we are doing our assessments for a realistic standpoint we have to look at this and say let's.

[00:24:11] Let's look at what the actual exposures are going back to thinking of how you are in your home again if you think of what your activities are in your home we're going to work whatever they may be entirely different from the next 24 hour exposure because you're not going to be.

[00:24:26] And likely not at your home for 24 hours a day every day for a number of years.

[00:24:34] So that understanding is very important when you're hearing news stories or seeing articles and they're just saying if you live in these areas your your increase risk for a health outcome and it's not safe.

[00:24:50] The safety of it has to be taken into context of risk and your individualized risk.

[00:24:58] And by thinking of that you have to you have to account for it now one thing that is important is I may I brought this up as well is you know I mentioned the word associations if you're having a health outcome from the exposure there has to there are.

[00:25:16] The ways in which scientists have a scientific method or identifying a causal relationship between the exposure and the outcome.

[00:25:27] And those go into I'll say an individualized assessments of risk and this is more.

[00:25:36] Streamline than is for the general conservative assessment this is a very important assessment to identify let's just say.

[00:25:48] Joe Smith says he has a cancer outcome.

[00:25:53] Okay, well let's look at Joe Smith's individual risk from exposure understand what he exposed to what his activities are et cetera.

[00:26:04] Having a blanket ideas identifying I'll say a general elevated risk for an area for potential risk for a potential outcome.

[00:26:13] The actual outcome or cause of someone's I'll say disease or health problem has to be evaluated individual level to understand with their actual risk is so I'm hoping I can I'm putting some of this in context.

[00:26:28] For what what you see as far as discussions of ethylene oxide in the news or a lot of information that's out there to kind of make you think that listen this is not what I'm.

[00:26:45] You're going to be exposed to I don't I may sleep my bed for an hours a day I use the HVAC my home is a tight home nothing no air gets in here.

[00:26:53] I don't keep the windows open you have to think about your exposure scenario.

[00:26:58] Not only I'll say for ethno oxide but many different exposures in the environment.

[00:27:04] So why is all this we know that all this is taking place and I I again I focus on the the sterilization facilities.

[00:27:13] But there are facilities that use sterilization not on a mass scale hospitals have used them general clinics have used them I understand some veterinary clinics use that clean oxide potentially for.

[00:27:27] Sterilization so it's there are small small scale applications as well however the large scale have the one been the ones that have received the most attention.

[00:27:37] They have received the most attention to the point that in March of 2024 the EPA announced that they're they finalized and national emission standards for hazardous air pollution for ethno oxide for commercial sterilizers.

[00:27:55] So the goal of the EPA's finalization of this is to reduce ethno oxide emissions and lifetime cancer risks surrounding these sterilization facilities.

[00:28:09] So there has been an effort to minimize fugitive exposures in these communities that's fine that's great but what are the effects what are you have to look at the not only.

[00:28:25] The causal analysis for any health outcomes but what was the cause of the fugitive releases or the cause something that would be easy to fix at these facilities is something that would be very cumbersome is it's something that may result in incomplete sterilization of medical devices because the emissions have to be lowered so much that there may be incomplete sterilization whenever you change something at one point.

[00:28:55] And it's going to have downstream impacts what are the downstream impacts I think that's important to consider and understand when you're looking at ethylene oxide.

[00:29:05] Another change that was finalized in April of 2024 by EPA was actually expanding any the rules to.

[00:29:18] are yes men you factures using ethylene oxide so not only.

[00:29:26] Using it but producing an axide for downstream use for use in manufacturing or sterilization what have you again.

[00:29:36] Further attempt to reduce ambient levels in the community.

[00:29:42] What are going to be the effects of this?

[00:29:45] I don't know.

[00:29:46] Honestly, at this point with the effects are,

[00:29:49] it's going to reliably reduce

[00:29:51] fugitive emissions and likely going to reduce ambient concentrations

[00:29:56] of ethylene oxide in these communities.

[00:30:01] But are the risks that are being assessed here

[00:30:06] realistic for any particular health outcomes

[00:30:10] or as a general blanket conservative risks

[00:30:13] that are being managed here?

[00:30:16] That's important if you are specifically

[00:30:18] either living in some of these communities

[00:30:20] or assessing the health of some of these communities

[00:30:23] or living in surrounding these plants.

[00:30:27] Because there's lots of things that go into

[00:30:29] of the assessment I mentioned the health outcome,

[00:30:33] there's different consensus agreement

[00:30:36] on what type of cancer, ethylene oxide,

[00:30:38] is going to cause in humans.

[00:30:40] What are the exposures?

[00:30:42] One thing also to consider what are

[00:30:46] the laboratory methodology,

[00:30:48] that are assessing these.

[00:30:50] In some of the applications of valuations,

[00:30:52] there are different methods for assessing

[00:30:55] the ethylene oxide in the communities.

[00:30:58] The exposure scientists listen to this and understand

[00:31:01] that if you're using different labs

[00:31:02] and different methods that may make comparison

[00:31:05] of data more difficult.

[00:31:06] So those are things that go into the assessment process

[00:31:11] when looking at ethylene oxide.

[00:31:13] Ethylene oxide is not going anywhere.

[00:31:15] It's going to have to be here.

[00:31:17] It's again, it's efficient for use

[00:31:20] in automobile applications for having cool into our cars.

[00:31:26] It's used in a lot of different intermediaries.

[00:31:29] Now for different applications of either cosmetics

[00:31:33] or other ones are those going

[00:31:35] in looking at some spices at herb.

[00:31:39] Sterilization, is that going to get a second look possibly?

[00:31:43] The EPA's evaluation may have kicked off secondary evaluations

[00:31:47] or reevaluations of something

[00:31:48] that was determined maybe 20, 30 years ago

[00:31:51] using more recent data.

[00:31:53] And I think it's important to remember,

[00:31:55] again, what downstream impacts

[00:31:57] is that going to have on the products or on the use?

[00:32:02] It's still going to be around,

[00:32:04] but the meaning of what EPA is doing as far as

[00:32:12] reducing fugitive sterilizations.

[00:32:16] That's going to be impact.

[00:32:17] I'll just say for example,

[00:32:18] I know some of these sterilization facilities

[00:32:20] have decided to shut down and not continue sterilization

[00:32:24] just because the requirement or the need

[00:32:28] to control their reduced ambient exposures was so,

[00:32:32] what they identified for their system.

[00:32:33] So birds, the mills is easier to shut down

[00:32:35] of the facility.

[00:32:37] Is that overall help the end user of the medical devices?

[00:32:43] Is it making more difficult?

[00:32:44] Does it make this a change the supply and demand

[00:32:48] of those products that are officially sterilized?

[00:32:51] Again, there's downstream impacts to all this.

[00:32:54] But I'm hoping today was able to put some pardon me,

[00:32:57] the discussion of ethylene oxide into context for you,

[00:33:02] understand why things have been done.

[00:33:06] Understand what has been identified,

[00:33:09] what the hazards are with the potential risks

[00:33:11] are in how to look at these bystandard exposures

[00:33:15] and they realistic exposure scenario.

[00:33:18] Again, recently wrote an article about this,

[00:33:21] I'm happy to have a discussion with you

[00:33:23] about it further or give you more information on it.

[00:33:26] But just kind of prompted my wants,

[00:33:27] you have this discussion and say, listen,

[00:33:31] there are differences in exposure.

[00:33:35] And what the dose actually is and someone actually gets.

[00:33:38] That goes into the individualized exposure assessment.

[00:33:42] Just because they say that there's an elevated risk

[00:33:45] from exposure doesn't mean that you actually fit

[00:33:48] their exposure scenario.

[00:33:50] Your individualized exposure has to be considered

[00:33:53] when you're doing these assessments.

[00:33:55] And to contextualize some of this information,

[00:33:58] I hope that helps out.

[00:34:00] I'll say everyone who's listening to this

[00:34:02] has the ultimate goal here is to help you understand

[00:34:05] when you see risk assessments,

[00:34:06] when you see evaluations, when you see any news articles

[00:34:12] that are discussing the deadly exposures

[00:34:16] to ethylene oxide, it all has to be taken

[00:34:18] within context and understand

[00:34:20] that there's a lot of variables

[00:34:22] that are conservative that goes into these assessments.

[00:34:25] I hope you enjoyed today's episode

[00:34:26] and I hope to catch you in the next one soon.

[00:34:29] Thank you.

[00:34:31] Thank you for listening to the exposure scientist podcast.

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[00:34:44] See you in the next episode.