Midwest Sterilization Corporation uses ethylene oxide sterilization to ensure the safety and sterility of the medical products we process.

Find out why ethylene oxide is used to sterilize medical devices by clicking here (U.S. FDA - Ethylene Oxide Sterilization for Medical Devices.)

EO Sterilization Statistics

More than 50 percent of all medical device types are sterilized using ethylene oxide.

BILLION

Ethylene oxide is used to sterilize more than 20 billion healthcare products each year in the U.S. alone.

Medical devices sterilized at Midwest Sterilization are used for critical surgeries and procedures in our communities and around the world.

What do the industry experts say about ethylene oxide sterilization?

Ethylene oxide sterilization is a widely used, heavily regulated method of medical device sterilization that is crucial for the healthcare industry. Click on the articles below to find out more information about ethylene oxide sterilization.

Statement from former FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb, M.D.

"[E]thylene oxide is a commonly used method of medical device sterilization. It's considered a safe and effective method that helps ensure the safety of medical devices and helps deliver quality patient care. Devices sterilized with ethylene oxide range from wound dressings to more specialized devices, like stents, as well as kits used in routine hospital procedures or surgeries that include multiple components made of different material."

Click here to read the full statement from former FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb, M.D., on steps the Agency is taking to prevent potential medical device shortages and ensure safe and effective sterilization.

The Benefits of Ethylene Oxide Sterilization - Ethylene Oxide Sterilization Association

"EO sterilization is critical in the safe delivery of sterile devices and medical care. The use of EO sterilization provides unparalleled benefits to society by its use throughout the medical community.

Numerous medical, hospital, and laboratory processes rely on EO to sterilize devices and equipment to protect millions of patients from the real risks of infectious diseases caused by bacteria, viruses, and fungi."

Click here to download the full statement from The Ethylene Oxide Sterilization Association, Inc.

Ethylene Oxide Safety Facts - American Chemistry Council

"A significantly flawed assessment that was generated by EPA's IRIS program is causing unnecessary alarm and grossly misstates EO's potential impact on public health. The IRIS program has dramatically overestimated the hazard of EO, deeming it unsafe at levels far below levels found in our environment. In fact, EPA's flawed IRIS value is 19,000 times lower than normal, naturally-created levels of EO in the human body and orders of magnitude lower than levels of EO from other sources measured in ambient air."

Click here to access the American Chemistry Council's Ethylene Oxide Safety Facts PDF.

Background: Ethylene Oxide's Invaluable Role in Protecting Public Health - AdvaMed

"If [EO] could not be used for sterilization of healthcare products, there would certainly be significant, and likely disastrous, adverse public health consequences. Elimination of this sterilization technology would introduce the real risks of increased morbidity and mortality."

Many medical devices cannot be sterilized by methods other than ethylene oxide sterilization. Find out why by clicking here.

Ethylene Oxide - ChemicalSafetyFacts.org

Op-ed Column from Maria Groethe, MPH, and Scott Whitaker in The Covington News

LEARN MORE ABOUT ETHYLENE OXIDE STERILIZATION

Advamed (The Advanced Medical Technology Association) is a trade association that leads the effort to advance medical technology in order to achieve healthier lives and healthier economies around the world.

Click Here to Access Advamed's information on EO Sterilization

The American Chemistry Council (ACC) is the oldest trade association of its kind in the United States. Click the link below to see their video about ethylene oxide and its uses.

Watch the Video