Ethylene Oxide Air Dispersion Modeling and Cancer Risk Assessment for Medical Sterilization Facilities
RoseyFields conducted a comprehensive environmental exposure assessment for a commercial medical device sterilization facility that utilized ethylene oxide (EtO) as a sterilizing agent. The project focused on evaluating potential off-site impacts associated with airborne EtO emissions generated during sterilization operations. Our team reviewed facility operations, sterilization processes, chemical usage records, emission control practices, and historical operating conditions to characterize potential releases of ethylene oxide, a hazardous air pollutant and known human carcinogen commonly associated with medical sterilization activities.
We performed advanced air dispersion modeling using the U.S. EPA’s AERMOD modeling platform to estimate long-term ambient concentrations of ethylene oxide in surrounding areas. The analysis included development of facility-specific emission inventories, source characterization, meteorological and terrain data processing, receptor grid design, atmospheric transport modeling, and evaluation of emission control technologies. In addition to modeling pollutant dispersion, RoseyFields evaluated contaminant fate and transport, assessed the effectiveness of available air pollution control systems, and conducted quantitative inhalation exposure assessments using EPA-approved risk assessment methodologies.
Our team characterized potentially exposed populations by evaluating occupancy patterns and the spatial relationship between facility emissions and surrounding receptors. Using modeled concentrations and established toxicological criteria, we performed a human health risk assessment to estimate potential lifetime cancer risks associated with chronic ethylene oxide exposure. This work highlights RoseyFields’ expertise in hazardous air pollutant assessments, air dispersion modeling, environmental fate and transport analysis, emissions inventory development, exposure reconstruction, community exposure evaluation, and human health risk assessment for industrial and medical sterilization operations.
This investigation was conducted under the direction of Dr. Paul Rosenfeld, an environmental scientist and environmental forensic expert with extensive experience in environmental exposure assessment, toxicology, air quality, environmental fate and transport, risk assessment, and environmental forensics. Through RoseyFields LLC, Dr. Rosenfeld provides scientific consulting, environmental forensic analysis, regulatory support, and expert witness services involving environmental contamination, human exposure, and public health. His technical oversight helped ensure that the methodologies, scientific interpretations, and conclusions presented in this case study are consistent with accepted scientific principles and current best practices.