Nashville– Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti led a coalition of 20 state attorneys general in commenting on proposed Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulations regarding Ethylene Oxide (EtO) and related emissions standards promulgated under the Clean Air Act (CAA).
EtO is used to sterilize roughly 20 billion medical devices annually and there are no substitutes. Regulating EtO use and emissions could severely negatively impact the medical device supply chain and provision of healthcare in the United States. In a comment letter, the coalition urges the EPA to forgo or defer proposed regulations.
“These proposed regulations will significantly reduce the nation’s capacity to sterilize medical devices,” General Skrmetti said. “If the administration moves forward with this proposal, the shortage of available medical devices will hurt both patients and health care professionals.”
The coalition notes the proposed regulations, if adopted, will force the adoption of new, untested technologies to sterilize medical devices. To avoid disruption to healthcare across the country, EPA should forgo the proposed regulations or extend the compliance period.
General Skrmetti was joined in signing the letter by state attorneys general from Alabama, Arkansas, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Utah, Virginia and West Virginia.
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