Injection needles, scalpels and other medical products need to be completely sterile. Therefore, boxes containing medical materials are treated with a high concentration of ethylene oxide gas (minimum 8.5%). This gas penetrates deep into the packaging and destroys all viruses, bacteria and other germs. Despite an intensive degassing process, it is inevitable that some of the toxic gas remains in the packaging. As a result, the packaging almost always continues to exude ethylene oxide. This poses a risk to everyone who comes into contact with the packaging: inhaling ethylene oxide is carcinogenic.
The greatest risk occurs when unloading containers or trucks containing these goods, when storing the products in warehouses, but also when opening sterilised boxes. Moreover, ethylene oxide spontaneously converts into 2-chloroethanol, another gas that is very harmful to the heart, liver, lungs, and kidneys. Both substances are subject to a strict exposure limit of 1 ppm (0.0001 %) in Belgium.
Hospitals or companies that handle, store or distribute medical equipment are required to have measurements performed to evaluate workplace exposure to these dangerous gases. These measurements usually come at a considerable cost. With Atmosafe’s DIY measurements, you can now perform highly accurate exposure measurements yourself and save more than half the normal budget!