Trump Administration Moves to Rescind 2024 Ethylene Oxide Emission Rules

The Trump administration has proposed rescinding regulations issued in 2024 that tightened controls on ethylene oxide emissions from commercial sterilizers and other facilities. The 2024 rule required the nation's emitters to cut emissions by about 90 percent after research found ethylene oxide is roughly 60 times more carcinogenic than believed when standards were last updated in 2006.

A Harvard Environmental and Energy Law Program analysis released on the current date details the administration's legal position. The approach would limit the Environmental Protection Agency's ability to strengthen rules for hazardous air pollutants when new evidence shows they are more dangerous than previously thought.

If the plan succeeds, nearly 8 tons of the gas would continue to be released annually, primarily in low-income neighborhoods. Ethylene oxide is a colorless, flammable gas used to sterilize about 20 billion medical devices each year, including pacemakers and syringes.

It is also employed in some food processing. The chemical is linked to leukemia and other health issues when inhaled. About 2.3 million people live near facilities that emit the gas.

The Environmental Protection Agency first set emission standards for ethylene oxide in 1994 and completed a required residual risk review in 2006. Officials interpreted the Clean Air Act as allowing such additional reviews to address public health. The current administration argues that statutory silence on further reviews means the agency lacks authority to act again.

The Harvard paper states this would represent a permanent change limiting future updates to hazardous air pollutant standards. The Clean Air Act requires an eight-year technical review of best available technology but does not directly revisit health risks in that process.