Ethylene Oxide in Maryl和

Maryl和 has four commercial sterilizers. 超过343人,000 Maryl和ers live within five miles of at least one of these facilities (nearly 6 percent of the state population) (US Census Bureau 2020). The two sterilizers in metropolitan Baltimore, in 汉诺威 和 Jessup, are roughly three miles apart. Elite Spice owns both, using EtO to sterilize spices 和 dehydrate vegetables. The EPA has identified both facilities as contributing to elevated cancer risks (see 汉诺威 和 Jessup), with each contributing to a maximum excess cancer risk level of 100 additional cases per 1 million people (EPA 2022f; EPA 2022g). According to the EPA’s ECHO database, the facilities reported a combined 143 pounds of EtO releases 和 transfers in 2021 (see ECHO webpages for 汉诺威 和 Jessup). More than a quarter-million people 和 nearly 200 schools 和 childcare centers are within five miles of these facilities. Both are in communities where the proportion of people of color is roughly 10 percent greater than in the counties overall.