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  Ethylene
oxide is a gas widely employed in the hospital environment for the
sterilization of medical and surgical equipment, such as catheters, tubes
and, generally speaking, all materials that cannot be sterilized in the
autoclave. After the sterilization has taken place, before the material
can be used again it must undergo an appropriate degasifying period. This
varies between some hours and some days depending on the material and on
the employed method (natural ventilation, forced ventilation, ect.).
Ethylene oxide can be responsible for irritating and allergic
manifestations and for neurotoxic and haemolytic effects. It is
classified by the International Agency for Research on Cancer amongst
substances of "sufficient evidence" of carcinogenic effect for
animals and of "limited evidence" for humans.
For additional information
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