Willowbrook Families Retain Law Firm After Report Of Cancer Risk

WILLOWBROOK, IL — Several Willowbrook families have retained a Chicago law firm to investigate ethylene oxide emissions released from Sterigenics International, Inc., which has facilities located in Willowbrook at 830 Midway Drive and 7775 Quincy St. A recent report from the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, which is a division of the CDC, stated, "If measured and modeled data represent typical EtO ambient concentrations in ambient air, an elevated cancer risk exists for residents and off-site workers in the Willowbrook community surrounding the Sterigenics facility. These evaluated risks present a public health hazard to these populations."

A public meeting was held last week to discuss the report and many residents were concerned and upset. Now, according to a release, attorneys from Romanucci & Blandin, LLC and Hart McLaughlin & Eldridge, are representing multiple affected area families.

Sterigenics International Inc. uses ethylene oxide to sterilize medical equipment and other products. The sterilization process emits ethylene oxide, and a report from the U.S. National Cancer Institute notes, "Exposure to (ethylene oxide) is highly irritating to the eyes, skin and respiratory tract, induces nausea and vomiting and causes central nervous system depression. Ethylene oxide is mutagenic in humans and chronic exposure is associated with an increased risk of leukemia, stomach cancer, pancreatic cancer and non-Hodgkin lymphoma."

Local leaders sent a letter to the company on Friday, and called for a cease in operations until further study could be done.

“The potential ramifications of this revelation are catastrophic – the EPA has reported that human exposure to ethylene oxide causes cancer, and numerous other serious health risks, such as DNA mutations and birth defects,” Gina A. DeBoni, Managing Attorney at Romanucci & Blandin, LLC, said in a release. “Residents of the community, including several with cancer or with relatives that have died of cancer, have reached out to our law firms to investigate the harmful effects of this toxic exposure. Our goal here is a lawsuit if our investigation does in fact reveal negligence or knowledge on anyone’s part that resulted in the needless and unnecessary poisoning of men, women, and children.”

New legislation has also been introduced and House Bill 5952 would amend the Illinois Environmental Protection Act to require facilities emitting ethylene oxide emissions higher than the standards set forth by either state or federal EPA regulations to cease operations until sufficient changes can be made to reduce the level of emissions below those standards, according to the release.

“There has been a lot of discussion regarding what the current ethylene oxide emissions are. However, this investigation is not about just current emission levels. It is about 34 years of exposure to a toxic substance that the residents of this community had no control of, or even knew about,” said attorney Martin D. Gould, Romanucci & Blandin, LLC. “There simply is no acceptable level of risk here, and this community should not be breathing in one more day of poison until the investigations are completed.”

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