Litigation Watch: Ethylene Oxide, Formaldehyde, And The Risk Of Risk Assessments

The chemical and health care industries know that more stringent EPA regulation of the manufacture and use of ethylene oxide (EtO) is coming. Questions remain, however, about whether and how EPA will revisit the 2016 Integrated Risk Information System (IRIS) value for EtO in assessing cancer risk. No matter what EPA does with its technical standards, failure to address the 2016 IRIS value may spur expanded private tort litigation, which has relied on that questioned value. Similar EPA actions—or failure to act—on formaldehyde and other chemicals currently subject to EPA review under the Toxic Substances and Control Act (TSCA) also create near-term regulatory and longer-term litigation risk.