At our law firm, we offer you a unique level of attention. We hope that these frequently asked questions will help you understand more about the way we work and validate our passion for helping people who are going through difficult situations.
Cancer can develop many years or even decades after exposure to a carcinogen. This delay is known as a latency period. Unlike an injury that causes immediate symptoms, cancer develops gradually as genetic damage accumulates over time. The National Cancer Institute describes cancer development as a multistep process, which is why a diagnosis rarely follows exposure within a short timeframe.
For environmental exposures like ethylene oxide, researchers and public health agencies routinely evaluate exposures that occurred 10, 20, or even 30 years before a diagnosis. The EPA's cancer risk models for EtO are built on lifetime exposure estimates, reflecting the fact that cancer risk from EtO may emerge long after the original exposure occurred. This is why attorneys and environmental investigators frequently ask for residential addresses going back many years.
Where a person lived during childhood, adolescence, or early adulthood can be as relevant to an exposure assessment as where they live today. The NIEHS Breast Cancer and the Environment Research Program specifically examines how exposures during these developmental periods may influence breast cancer risk later in life. A diagnosis today does not require recent proximity to a facility for past exposure to factor into the picture.
If you have been diagnosed with breast cancer and lived near an ethylene oxide facility at any point in the past, including years or decades before your diagnosis, that history may be worth examining. ELG Law has spent over three decades representing individuals affected by toxic chemical exposure. Contact ELG Law today for a free case evaluation.