sterilizer

In Laredo, Texas, where the most toxic industrial sterilizer in the nation is located, residents were not informed of their exposure until 2021.

The technicians found a fault in an air-pressure system designed to keep dangerous microbes from infecting lab workers, and a broken autoclave, a high-pressure steam sterilizer necessary to inactivate and safely dispose of viruses or other contaminated materials.

Ethylene oxide has been used as a sterilizer since 1930s, and the EPA has been under pressure to better regulate it since at least the 1980s.

According to industry, the medical sterilizer system in the state has little room for disruption.

Reading was something I could do with aplomb, and I thought the experience would be soothing for all involved — including my husband, who was sweating over instructions for a bottle sterilizer that looked like R2-D2.