Ethylene Oxide Gas Sterilization: A Systematic Review of Carcinogenicity, Toxicity And Occupational Exposure
Abstract
Evidence on ethylene oxide sterilization, occupational exposure, toxicity and carcinogenic risk.
Ethylene oxide gas is a colourless gas used to sterilize items that are sensitive to moisture, heat and radiation. The published article notes that overexposure can have harmful effects on the central nervous system, reproductive system and peripheral nervous system.
Web of Science, Science Direct, PubMed, Google Scholar and Scopus were used to identify articles relevant to ethylene oxide sterilization, toxicity and exposure.
A total of 116 articles were initially selected. Following title and abstract review, 15 articles were retained. Subsequent assessment of the methodology, discussion and conclusion resulted in 10 articles being included as directly relevant to the review.
The review identifies ethylene oxide gas as an important sterilization option for surgical instruments that cannot tolerate conventional heat or moisture-based methods. At the same time, excessive exposure may affect the central nervous system and reproductive system and may contribute to carcinogenic and other serious health risks. Appropriate personal protective equipment and careful attention to safe handling are therefore important during ETO use.
Articles initially identified for review.
Articles retained after title and abstract review.
Articles considered directly relevant to the final review.
Web of Science, Science Direct, PubMed, Google Scholar and Scopus.
Citation Metrics
Citation counts are retrieved automatically from independent scholarly databases. Counts are displayed separately because database coverage, indexing and citation matching differ.
Citations reported through the Crossref scholarly metadata network.
Loading…Citations indexed by the OpenAlex scholarly knowledge graph.
Loading…Citation Generator
Select a referencing style, copy the citation, or export the article for use with reference-management software.
Contributor Statement
Equal contributions.
Conflict of Interest & Funding
Conflict of Interest:
No conflict of interest.
Funding:
No funding received by the authors.
Systematic Review
The article reviews the use of ethylene oxide gas sterilization with particular attention to toxicity, carcinogenicity and occupational exposure associated with ETO use.
Five Databases
Web of Science, Science Direct, PubMed, Google Scholar and Scopus were used to identify articles relevant to the review.
Evidence Selection
The review began with 116 articles. Fifteen were retained after title and abstract screening, followed by further review of methodology, discussion and conclusion, resulting in 10 articles considered directly relevant to the study.
Exposure Considerations
The article emphasises safe handling, appropriate personal protective equipment and careful occupational exposure control when ethylene oxide gas is used for sterilization.
Editorial Timeline
Licence & Article Record
This article is published by
The Operating Room Global Journal (TORGJ)
under the Creative Commons Attribution
4.0 International licence (CC BY 4.0).
Persistent DOI:
10.64573/torgj2507005
Semantic Scholar
This article has a Semantic Scholar record.
View on Semantic Scholar ↗
Access the Published Article
Read the official full-text systematic review, access the persistent DOI record, or return to Volume 1, Issue 2.