Current Toxicology of Ethylene Oxide,

Ethylene oxide is used as a fumigant to sterilize surgical equipment and as a fungicide for agricultural commodities. Its chemical properties make the compound very reactive on mucous membranes and cellular components. Symptoms of acute poisoning are irritation of the skin, mucous membranes and lungs pulmonary edema depression of the central nervous system lacrimation nausea or vomitingand convulsion. Severe pulmonary edema could lead to death. Deaths after a fewdays are due to liver and kidney failure. Adverse effects were demonstrated by some of the specific, standard toxicological studies such as acute, skin and eye irritation, mutagenicity, reproduction, and oncogenicity tests. Its LD50 values of less than 500 mgkg of body weight rank ethylene oxide among the dangerous poisons. It causes severe skin burns and eye irritation without apparent permanent damage. Moreover, this chemical is highly mutagenic in microbiological and mammalian systems. Considering the chemical nature, and the serious toxicological effects on the mammalian systems, ethylene oxide should be regarded as a dangerous compound. Therefore, it should be handled and used with utmost care. Monitoring of its residues and by-products must be conducted, particularly when it is used to sterilize equipment that will be used directly on humans. The threshold limit value TLV is 1 ppm or 2 mgcum of air.