Mortality among workers exposed to ethylene oxide. 16-year average follow-up of over 18,000 workers.

Ethylene oxide is a highly reactive epoxide gas and a direct alkylating agent with chemical properties that make it a potent mutagen and a potential human carcinogen.4 It has been used commercially in the United States since the 1950s for sterilization of medical supplies, pharmaceutical products, and spices. NIOSH estimates that 270,000 workers may be exposed annually, with high levels of exposures occurring in perhaps 120,000 hospital and industrial workers.