A challenge to a federal assessment of the cancer risk for a chemical produced in Louisiana used to manufacture goods ranging from antifreeze to detergents has been rejected by a U.S. court of appeals, reports NOLA.com.
The challenge of the Environmental Protection Agency cancer risk assessment for ethylene oxide by a Texas petrochemical manufacturer, the American Chemistry Council and the Louisiana Chemical Association was rejected on Tuesday by the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia. It ruled that EPA correctly rejected an alternative study by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality that found less cancer risk.
EPA’s risk assessment concluded that for people living near petrochemical facilities emitting the toxic gas, the maximum lifetime individual risk of cancer from exposure to ethylene oxide was four times what the agency considers acceptable. The Texas agency’s study concluded the risk of cancer from ethylene oxide exposure was 3,000 times lower than EPA’s estimate. Read more.
