Through social media I cam across a post that referred to a dangerous chemical namely Ethylene Oxide being used in PCR tests as a sterilization agent. This caused me some serious concern, therefore I decided to dig a bit deeper into this chemical namely Ethylene Oxide.

The FDA Is Taking Steps to Move Beyond Ethylene Oxide “Gas” Sterilization. There has been calls to replace Ethylene Oxide because of cancer risks

There’s outrage from exposed communities has federal regulators and device makers seriously rethinking a question that’s been hanging over the sterilization industry for decades: Can ethylene oxide be replaced?

Ethylene oxide is a widely used chemical made in the U.S. by some of the industry’s global giants, including Dow Chemical, Huntsman, Shell and Union Carbide. The main ingredient in automobile antifreeze.

FDA reported they will l continue in its efforts to reduce over-reliance on ethylene oxide for medical device sterilization. Supply issues can lead to shortages of medical devices—and can pose a threat to public health by delaying or disrupting critical care for patients. Mitigating product supply issues and working to prevent patient harm from device shortages are important to the FDA.

November 2019 it was reported that regulators from public health agencies, medical device manufacturers and expert physicians gathered at a 2 day meeting to discuss, address challenges with ethylene oxide, a carcinogenic gas used to sterilize more than 50% of medical devices.

The topic of focus of those at the gathering was “What’s the potential impact of reducing, eliminating or replacing ethylene oxide sterilization on the medical device supply chain, and what can FDA do to prevent shortages of critical devices used by hospitals and other healthcare providers across the country”?

Back in 2019, it was documented that 20 billion to 25 billion devices are sterilized in 2018 using ethylene oxide. FDA issued a warning in October 2019 that without adequate availability of Ethylene Oxide a national shortage of devices will occur.

Clinical Oncology News in the US, May 2nd 2020’s article read ‘Sterilization has beena problem for months- then COVID19 hit’
For months, officials had been warning of a looming shortage in the supply of a gas used in the sterilization of medical equipment (Ethylene Oxide). That the system had now taken another hit and was stressed due to COVID19.

One of the most adopted sterilization processes uses ethylene oxide (EO), a highly reactive, toxic and flammable gas capable of sterilizing at ambient temperature, preserving those medical devices which cannot be exposed to moisture or high temperatures — like the ones made of polymers, plastics or those containing electronic components.

The EO sterilization is assumed to play an important role in the battle against COVID-19, but, due to its intrinsic hazardous nature and carcinogenic effect on human beings, very high attention must be paid on possible residual levels
This position is supported by the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) which states, “Ethylene oxide is not recommended as a crisis strategy for cleaning filtering facepiece respirators as it may be harmful to the wearer.”

In this scenario, it becomes even more critical to rely on efficient and sensitive testing methods to ensure no residual EO is present on PPE and medical devices in general.

Ethylene Oxide is absorbed by many materials, for this reason, following sterilization the item must undergo aeration to remove any residual. Guidelines have been promoted regarding allowable EO limits for devices that depend on how the device is used, how often, and how long in order to pose a minimal risk to patients in normal product use

Additionally, during the EO sterilization process, it is also possible the formation of 2-chloroethanol (or ethylene chlorohydrin, ECH)2, which is classified as a hazardous substance very toxic by inhalation and skin absorption.
Ethylene Oxide is used for various medical devices including PCR tests to insert deeply into peoples nasal cavaties

Please go to the link in the image above which takes you to my Rumble video for more information on this serious subject.