Reduced EtO emissions to safeguard biomedical supply chains

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Summary/Abstract The overarching goal of this project is to protect the nation’s supply chain of critical medical devices that are sterilized using ethylene oxide (EtO). Despite the search for alternative approaches, numerous types of single-use devices are sterilized with EtO. These devices, including catheters, heart valves, and tracheostomy tubes, are critical to routine and life-saving procedures and therapies. As regulation of EtO emissions and community and worker exposure levels continues to become more stringent, there is a threat that supply chains for critical devices will be disrupted, in turn threatening the health and well-being of the nation. The specific objectives of this project include the development of a novel photocatalytic method to mitigate EtO at levels that are hazardous but difficult to address with existing adsorptive and thermal catalytic approaches. Specifically, the technology addresses concentrations in the range of 10 ppm and below. The technology can be used to mitigate EtO from existing sterilization plants as an adjunct to stack scrubbers, as well as deployed to address ambient levels of EtO in plants and warehouses. Objectives include determining operating conditions at which low concentrations of EtO (<10 ppm) are oxidized at 99% destruction and removal efficiency (DRE), identifying optimum photocatalyst and parameter space for achieving high DRE, developing a prototype photoreactor operating at 20 cfm capable of 99% EtO DRE that is scalable to commercial requirements, and evaluating the performance of the prototype for a target 99% EtO DRE at 20 cfm. The specific aims are determining operating parameters at lab-scale, building a scalable prototype reactor capable of 20 cfm operation, and evaluating the performance of the prototype at 20 cfm for a target of 99% EtO DRE. Study designs are centered around systematic catalyst modifications and exploration of gas flow / illumination geometries. Standard and cutting-edge detection approaches that are capable of measuring EtO into the low ppb and ppt ranges will be used in the experimental program.