The May 12, 2022 and Nov. 30, 2023 Ethylene Oxide Monitoring Reports from the Georgia Environmental Protection Division (EPD) concluded that levels of EtO measured in the areas near BD facilities are generally comparable to the concentrations measured at locations where there are no known commercial sources of EtO, including a state park that is nearly 200 miles away.
* The Covington, Ga. average is the average of both EPD monitoring data from areas near BD’s sterilization facility and data from a third-party engineering company performing air monitoring around BD’s GDC in Covington, as required by EPD. All raw data available at https://epd.georgia.gov/ethylene-oxide-information.
EtO concentrations measured in ambient air samples in Covington by the Georgia EPD and BD are consistent with the average background concentrations the EPA found nationwide in urban and rural areas that are not near sterilization facilities.
In November 2019, the EPA released results of a comprehensive nationwide analysis of EtO levels across the country and found the average amount of EtO present in the air nationwide (also known as background levels) was between 0.2 and 0.4 micrograms of EtO per cubic meter of air.
*Green: The Covington, Ga. average is the average of both EPD monitoring data from areas near BD’s sterilization facility and data from a third-party engineering company performing air monitoring around BD’s GDC in Covington, as required by EPD.
