In response to a new rule, if you haven’t yet notified the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) about ethylene oxide (EtO) sterilizer compliance at your hospital, the deadline to do so is just days away.

 

The EPA now mandates that hospitals run full loads in EtO sterilizers and log them, and facilities must file a compliance notification by June 27 certifying full loads are indeed run. Partial loads can be run if a qualified staff member (e.g., central services worker, hospital administrator, or physician) deems it medically necessary.