How this story appeared
When GRI’s Correspondents began talking to environmental defenders about ethylene oxide in 2023, we have repeatedly heard that warehouses were a threat and that any of the organizers or community activists had any idea of their whereabouts. The defenders confirmed that, although the Environmental Protection Agency was abandoning emissions from sterilization facilities, it was overlooking the warehouses. No one knew exactly the number of these existing warehouses, as it was present, or the amount of ethylene oxide from which it was emitted. Ethylene oxide is a highly toxic substance, so we were surprised by his victory. We decided to try to fill these gaps.
What we found
We have found that two cardinal health warehouses in El Baso, Texas, are likely to pose a greater threat than the near sterilization facility. The emissions led to an additional risk of cancer for a community next to a permitted EPA. We also identified about 30 other warehouses emitting ethylene oxide throughout the country. It is used by companies like Boston Scientific, Conmed and BecTon Dickinson, as well as Cardinal Health. They are not limited to the industrial parts of the cities – they are near schools, stadiums, sports halls and residential complexes.
From the outside, the warehouses do not attract attention. It looks like any other distribution center. Many occupy hundreds of thousands of square feet, withdraw dozens of trucks inward and come out every day. But when medical products are loaded, unloaded and transferred from these facilities, they give up ethylene oxide in the air. Most of the nearby population does not have any idea that non -descriptive buildings are a source of toxic pollution. Most truck drivers, who are often appointed on the basis of a contract, or many workers working in warehouses.
When Grist reported on El Paso basic warehouses, our correspondents delivered the bulletins to the residents and workers so that they could learn more and contact us. It is available for display and download below:
How we set warehouses
The first list of about 30 warehouses in the first place include facilities that reported ethylene oxide emissions to the South Coast or South Coast emissions. We got these titles by submitting applications for public records to agencies. We also identified some warehouses in this list by talking to truck drivers who transport medical devices from sterilization facilities to warehouses.
The second menu consists of owned warehouses or run by some manufacturers of the country’s main medical devices. Since we have a list of 30 warehouses that we know ethylene oxide, we have identified medical devices manufacturers and distributors who use these warehouses for storage. Then we expanded the search to everyone The warehouses that these companies use. In order to be clear, there is no evidence indicating that each warehouse in the second list is emitted from ethylene oxide. Instead, it is presented for more research by local correspondents and concerned citizens.
Grist collected a list of American warehouses that have been reported to store sterile products with ethylene oxide and other manufacturers of medical devices and distributors.
Download map data …
Source: The device analysis
Map: Lylla Younes / Clayton Aldern / Grist
How to find warehouses in your area
See through the two lists we collected. Is there in your area? Are there any companies working in your area or your mandate?
If you do not find any warehouses in your area in our lists, prepare a list of medical devices and distributors in your state. The major companies we encountered in our research are the Cardinal Health, Middlain, and Ouins & Minor. Then try locating the warehouse products. You can find this information by looking at:
Company website
Some companies include their facilities – including warehouses – in sections “of us” or “sites” on their website. If the company maintains a job portal, look for any jobs related to warehouses and whether it lists the recruitment site.
SEC files
If the company is circulated publicly, you will need to provide financial information to the Securities and Stock Exchange Committee. Find SEC Edgar database To view the company’s files. Sometimes, companies reveal their risk of litigation or ethylene oxide regulations. Some companies also list their assets, including facility sites, in these deposits.
Google Maps
Find a medical devices company in your area. For example, if you are interested in Medline, you can try “Medine Warehouse” or “Medline Distribution Center” and know if anything near you.
If you are a local correspondent or a concerned resident, what can I do with this information now after I know where the warehouse is?
Once a warehouse is selected that you may store sterile products with ethylene oxide, you can try to confirm whether the chemist is emitted by one of these methods:
Sending records requests to local and state environmental agencies
Contact the city or government agency that allows air quality in your area. The Ministry of Environmental Quality in the state is often, but sometimes regional air quality areas (as in California) or the city’s environmental offices. Ask all air quality permit requests submitted by the warehouse operator concerned or all correspondence by the warehouse operator that states ethylene oxide.
Try to connect it to the sterilization facility
Products are first published with ethylene oxide in sterilization facilities before sending them to storage warehouses. If the products are delivered from sterile to the warehouse you are looking for, this is a strong indication that the warehouse emanates from ethylene oxide. There are two main ways to take when trying to embody the supply chain into warehouses.
- Talk to drivers who go down in warehouses: You can try to determine where the products come from speaking to truck drivers who offer shipments to the warehouse.
- Talk to drivers who leave sterilization facilities: There are less than 100 sterilization facilities in the country, and the Environmental Protection Agency maintains a list of them here. If someone is near you, you can ask drivers to get information about where they take the products.
- Call the company: Some companies have public relations or community participation employees who respond to residents’ questions. Try to communicate to find out if they are open to talking to you.
Spoke
Try to talk to warehouse workers during a break or at the end of their Nuba. Companies must inform their workers of ethylene oxide, so that you can ask questions about whether in any meetings in which managers have indicated exposure to chemicals. However, many workers do not realize that they are exposed to ethylene oxide. But ask them if the facility contains air quality screens, and if so, whether they know what is watching.
If you are a resident I want to participate but I have no experience in the press, what can I do for more information?
- Take a look at this 2023 Map And the evaluation report of 104 facilities emitted by ethylene oxide by the Union of Primible Scholars.
- Any member of the public can provide the Freedom of Information Law, or the Freedom of Information Law, requesting general information from the federal government. You can also apply for open records for information from local and state agencies. There are many resources to help you formulate this:
– FOIA WikiBy the Correspondents Committee for Freedom of the Press
– the Federal Information Freedom Law website
