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Living near an ethylene oxide facility for 20 years may be relevant when evaluating potential environmental exposure. The EPA assesses EtO cancer risk based on long-term cumulative exposure, and its National Air Toxics Assessment identifies elevated EtO-related cancer risks in communities based on chronic exposure over decades, not isolated or short-term contact. Someone who lived near emissions for 20 years may have accumulated significantly greater exposure than someone who lived in the same area for only a few years.
When researchers and attorneys evaluate environmental exposure histories, length of residence near an emitting facility is one of the most closely examined variables. Other factors considered alongside it include how close the residence was to the facility, whether exposure was continuous over that period, and whether any of those years occurred during childhood or early adulthood, when the body may be more vulnerable to environmental carcinogens.
Attorneys and environmental investigators often ask for residential addresses going back decades for this reason. While 20 years of residence near an EtO facility does not by itself prove causation, it is the kind of documented history that forms the foundation of an exposure assessment.
If you lived near an ethylene oxide facility for an extended period and have since been diagnosed with breast cancer, your residential history is worth reviewing. ELG Law has spent over three decades representing individuals affected by toxic chemical exposure. Call ELG Law today to find out whether your history supports a claim.