Ethylene oxide is currently the only way to sterilize medical devices that can’t be exposed to steam. It’s used to sanitize 20 billion devices in the U.S. per year, such as pacemakers ...

Ethylene oxide is a chemical used in the manufacture of antifreeze, detergents, plastics and textiles, and as a sterilizing agent for food and medical equipment.

But the agency released a rule Thursday that will force plants to slash their emissions, and it says it expects that the rule will cut the plants’ ethylene oxide releases by more than 90 percent.

Lakewood's Terumo BCT, which sterilizes medical equipment with cancer-causing ethylene oxide, must slash its air emissions after the Environmental Protection Agency on Thursday told all companies ...