In August of 2018, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released its updated National Air Toxics Assessment(NATA). The NATA is a screening tool that that the EPA uses to determine potential health risks, including cancer, that can come from breathing hazardous air pollutants. The data contained in the updated NATA actually came from air samples taken in 2014. One of the pollutants tested for was ethylene oxide. According to the EPA, if the cancer risk to an individual is no higher than 1 in 10,000 (or 100 in 1 million), then the risk is “acceptable.”
