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Ethylene oxide is used to sterilize medical supplies and other materials. Approximately 270,000 workers in the U.S. are exposed to this gas. Because it is a mutagen and a carcinogen in animals, and because past epidemiologic studies have had conflicting results, NIOSH undertook the largest study yet of its carcinogenic potential in humans.
The study involved over 18,000 workers exposed for an average of 4.9 years; they were followed for an average of 16 years. There was no overall increase in mortality from all causes, and no increase in deaths from all cancers. However, the rate of death from hematopoietic cancers (especially non-Hodgkin's lymphoma) was 55 percent higher among men. There also was a trend among men toward the development of …