An ethylene oxide lawsuit is a personal injury claim brought by someone who lived near a commercial sterilization facility and developed cancer they attribute to long-term exposure to the plant’s emissions. Thousands of these suits have been filed against Sterigenics, STERIS, Becton Dickinson, Terumo BCT, Cosmed Group, Eastman Chemical, and Cardinal Health, among others, in Illinois, Georgia, California, Colorado, Texas, and New Jersey. They have produced landmark verdicts, more than $700 million in combined awards and settlements by the end of 2023, and continuing waves of new filings, though results in any individual case turn heavily on the court, the state, and what scientific evidence the judge allows.
Who Gets Sued and On What Theory
The defendants are companies that operated sterilization plants using ethylene oxide, a colorless gas used to sterilize medical devices, pharmaceuticals, and spices. The theory is straightforward: emissions from these plants exposed nearby residents to a chemical the EPA classifies as carcinogenic to humans by inhalation, and that exposure caused cancer.1EPA IRIS. Toxicological Review of Ethylene Oxide The International Agency for Research on Cancer has separately classified ethylene oxide as a human carcinogen.2National Library of Medicine. Ethylene Oxide Emissions and Cancer Risk Study
The cancers most commonly alleged are the ones the EPA’s 2016 risk assessment tied to exposure-response evidence in worker studies: lymphoid cancers such as leukemia, non-Hodgkin lymphoma, and myeloma, and female breast cancer.3National Library of Medicine. Ethylene Oxide Carcinogenicity Assessment Animal studies have also linked exposure to tumors of the blood, brain, lungs, and mammary glands.4EPA IRIS. Ethylene Oxide IRIS Summary
Sterigenics, a subsidiary of Sotera Health, is the most prominent defendant and has faced claims in Illinois, Georgia, California, and New Mexico.5Sotera Health. EO Litigation Plaintiffs have also pulled in private equity owners GTCR and Warburg Pincus, alleging joint control over Sterigenics operations, along with predecessor operator Griffith Foods for the Illinois facility.6CMBG3. Sterigenics Complaint Other named companies include Becton Dickinson (CR Bard), B. Braun Medical, STERIS through its Isomedix subsidiary, Medline, Terumo BCT, Cosmed Group, Eastman Chemical, and Kendall Patient Recovery (a Cardinal Health subsidiary).
What Triggered the Litigation
The wave began after the EPA’s Integrated Risk Information System, in December 2016, reclassified ethylene oxide as carcinogenic to humans by inhalation and concluded that the safe exposure level was roughly 30 times lower than the agency’s 1985 figure, setting the one-in-a-million lifetime cancer risk at 0.1 parts per trillion.1EPA IRIS. Toxicological Review of Ethylene Oxide7Washington Legal Foundation. Ethylene Oxide: How Dubious Regulatory Science Has Fueled Vicious Cycle
Litigation accelerated in 2018 when EPA air monitoring around a Sterigenics plant in Willowbrook, Illinois, found elevated concentrations of the gas, and follow-up analysis concluded that people living within 1.5 miles of the facility faced a cancer risk ten times higher than normal.8WTTW News. Jury Awards Willowbrook Woman Damages in Sterigenics Lawsuit Illinois sealed the plant in February 2019, and Sterigenics closed it permanently later that year.9EPA. Sterigenics Willowbrook Facility
The science is contested. The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality concluded in 2020 that the EPA overestimated the carcinogenic risk by a factor of 2,400, and defendants have pointed out that ethylene oxide occurs naturally in the human body and in ambient air.7Washington Legal Foundation. Ethylene Oxide: How Dubious Regulatory Science Has Fueled Vicious Cycle That dispute now sits at the heart of nearly every case.
Where Cases Are Being Brought
Willowbrook, Illinois (Sterigenics)
More than 700 individual lawsuits were filed in Cook County and the Northern District of Illinois over the Willowbrook facility. The first trial, brought by Sue Kamuda, a resident who lived about a third of a mile from the plant for over 20 years and was diagnosed with aggressive breast cancer, ended on September 20, 2022, with a $363 million jury verdict — $38 million compensatory and $325 million punitive — the largest for an individual plaintiff in Illinois history. The jury assigned 65% of fault to Sterigenics, 30% to Sotera Health, and 5% to Griffith Foods.10Collins Law Firm. Collins Law Firm Represents Plaintiff Awarded Record $363 Million5Sotera Health. EO Litigation
Two months later, the second trial went the other way. In Fornek v. Sterigenics, a jury returned a defense verdict on November 18, 2022, after the court allowed the defense to introduce studies finding no association with the plaintiff’s specific cancer and evidence about natural background levels — evidence that had been excluded in Kamuda.11Hollingsworth LLP. Hollingsworth LLP Secures Major Defense Verdict
The split verdicts pushed the parties toward resolution. In March 2023, Sterigenics finalized Master Settlement Agreements that grew to $408 million and resolved more than 870 claims, with average per-plaintiff payouts around $464,000 depending on the diagnosis.12Washington Legal Foundation. Ethylene Oxide Legal Backgrounder13Nextbeam. Ethylene Oxide Sterilization Litigation in the United States Sterigenics later settled another 97 Willowbrook claims for roughly $30.9 million in April 2025 and 129 more for $34 million in July 2025.14Sotera Health. Sterigenics Settlement Agreement – April 202515Crain’s Cleveland Business. Sotera Subsidiary Sterigenics Settles More Ethylene Oxide Claims Roughly 30 additional Illinois cases with separate counsel remained pending as of mid-2025. None of the settlements included an admission of liability.
Waukegan, Illinois (STERIS/Isomedix)
Hundreds of claims were filed over ethylene oxide emissions from an Isomedix Operations plant in Waukegan. After a trial involving plaintiff Pamela Knobbe ended in a mistrial, the parties reached a settlement in March 2025 valued at up to $48.15 million, intended to resolve substantially all pending personal injury claims against STERIS in Cook County. No liability was admitted.16Chicago Tribune. Waukegan Area Residents Sharing $48.1 Million Settlement17Medical Design and Outsourcing. STERIS Isomedix Settles Ethylene Oxide Lawsuits
Georgia (Sterigenics, Becton Dickinson, Cardinal Health)
Hundreds of claims were filed over Sterigenics’ Atlanta-area facility, in Gwinnett and Cobb Counties. In October 2023, Sterigenics settled 79 of them for $35 million, including a case set for trial, citing concerns about how the Gwinnett court would apply evidentiary rules on ethylene oxide science.18Sotera Health. Sterigenics Settlement Agreement – October 2023
The remaining cases moved to Cobb County for a Phase One proceeding on expert testimony and general causation. On November 22, 2024, the trial court excluded two plaintiff experts, admitted a third (Dr. Stayner), denied summary judgment on cancer claims, and granted it on birth-defect claims. On October 31, 2025, the Georgia Court of Appeals vacated that order, holding the trial court had failed to apply the standard from the Eleventh Circuit’s McClain v. Metabolife International, Inc. The court sent the case back to determine whether ethylene oxide requires more rigorous proof of causation, including a dose-response relationship.19FindLaw. Sterigenics Phase One Appeal The answer could determine whether Georgia plaintiffs get to a jury at all.
Georgia also produced a verdict against Becton Dickinson. Gary Walker, diagnosed with non-Hodgkin lymphoma in 2017, won a $20 million compensatory award from a Gwinnett County jury. The jury initially added $50 million in punitives, but a juror revealed during polling that they had not agreed with the verdict, and Judge Emily Brantley declared a mistrial on the punitive phase on May 7, 2025. The $20 million compensatory award stands; a retrial on punitive damages is expected.20Courtroom View Network. Becton Dickinson Hit With $20M Verdict21Penn Law Group. Judge Declares Mistrial in Walker v. BD
Cardinal Health’s Kendall Patient Recovery facility in Augusta faces multiple lawsuits over alleged ethylene oxide releases. In March 2026, Cardinal Health announced the plant would close in two phases starting May 2026, affecting more than 200 workers, citing raw material shortages and market conditions.22Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Facing Multiple Lawsuits, Georgia Medical Sterilization Facility to Shutter
Vernon, California (Sterigenics)
Lawsuits began in 2024 against Sterigenics’ two adjacent facilities in Vernon, near Los Angeles. Plaintiffs, including residents of Maywood, allege decades of unreported exposure that led to breast cancer, leukemia, non-Hodgkin lymphoma, and stomach cancer. A Los Angeles Superior Court judge denied Sterigenics’ motions for summary judgment, and trials are set for January and April 2027.23LAist. Vernon Maywood Sterigenics Ethylene Oxide Lawsuit Advances
Colorado (Terumo BCT)
A Jefferson County group alleged emissions from a Terumo BCT facility caused cancer after 15 to 53 years of exposure. In March 2025, a jury found Terumo BCT not negligent; the defense argued the company had handled ethylene oxide in compliance with EPA and Colorado law.24Colorado Sun. Terumo Court Costs in Plaintiffs Lose
New Jersey (Cosmed Group)
Cosmed Group, facing at least 300 lawsuits including two class actions over facilities such as its Franklin, New Jersey, plant, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in the Southern District of Texas on November 14, 2024. The company reported over $100 million in liabilities driven by litigation. The filing has stayed pending claims.25Reuters. Sanitization Company Cosmed Files Bankruptcy After Lawsuits
Longview, Texas (Eastman Chemical)
In July 2025, six plaintiffs filed an environmental and personal injury suit in the Eastern District of Texas against Eastman Chemical, alleging emissions from its Longview plant caused breast cancer in four of them. The complaint pleads two counts of negligence and one count of loss of consortium.26KSLA. Federal Lawsuit Filed Against Eastman Chemical
Why Outcomes Diverge
Two features drive most of the variance. First is what scientific evidence the trial judge admits. Kamuda’s $363 million verdict and Fornek’s defense win were tried in the same courthouse against the same defendant, with the difference in evidentiary rulings — particularly on studies of the plaintiff’s specific cancer and on background levels of the chemical — shaping the outcome. Sterigenics settled the Georgia trial docket in 2023 partly because of concerns over how the Gwinnett court would apply those rules, and the pending Cobb County ruling on general causation and dose-response could reset the standard for hundreds of remaining Georgia cases.
Second is the strength of the defendant’s compliance record. Terumo BCT won its Colorado trial on evidence that it had operated within EPA and state limits. That defense runs through most of the pending cases: defendants argue their permits allowed the emissions, while plaintiffs argue they knew or should have known the exposures were dangerous regardless.
How the Regulatory Fight Feeds Back In
On April 5, 2024, the EPA finalized new National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants targeting commercial ethylene oxide sterilizers, projecting a 90%-plus reduction in emissions, with a compliance deadline of April 6, 2026.27Earthjustice. EPA Bows to Corporate Polluters
On July 17, 2025, President Trump issued a proclamation granting two-year exemptions from the 2024 standards to 40 commercial sterilization facilities, roughly 45% of all commercial sterilizers in the country.28Civil Rights Litigation Clearinghouse. CleanAIRE NC v. Trump Environmental groups argued the exemptions would expose at least 85,000 additional people to unacceptable cancer risks compared with the 2024 rule.27Earthjustice. EPA Bows to Corporate Polluters On March 12, 2026, the EPA proposed reconsidering and rescinding the risk-based standards in the 2024 rule, with public comment open through May 1, 2026.29Federal Register. National Emission Standards for Ethylene Oxide Sterilization Facilities
CleanAIRE NC, Sustainable Newton, Virginia Interfaith Power & Light, and the Natural Resources Defense Council sued in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia on January 28, 2026, challenging the presidential exemptions as beyond the president’s authority under the Clean Air Act. The case remains active.28Civil Rights Litigation Clearinghouse. CleanAIRE NC v. Trump30NRDC. Groups File Suit Over Presidential Exemptions
For plaintiffs, tighter standards can support the argument that permit-compliant historical emissions were unsafe; a rollback strengthens the defense position that plants operated inside the rules.
What This Means If You Think You Have a Claim
Approximately 14 million people in the United States and Puerto Rico live within five miles of a commercial sterilization facility, and pending cases are moving in California, Georgia, New Jersey (stayed by the Cosmed bankruptcy), Texas, and New Mexico.27Earthjustice. EPA Bows to Corporate Polluters The core factual pattern in a claim is proximity to a facility that used ethylene oxide, years of residence within the exposure zone, and a diagnosis of one of the cancers linked to exposure — most often leukemia, non-Hodgkin lymphoma, myeloma, or breast cancer. Statutes of limitations, the specific facility involved, and the state in which suit is filed will all affect whether a case can be brought.
One boundary worth noting: the Cobb County court granted summary judgment against birth-defect claims in the Georgia Sterigenics litigation while allowing cancer claims to proceed. That ruling is under appellate reconsideration, but it signals that ethylene oxide claims outside the recognized cancer categories face a steeper causation hurdle.19FindLaw. Sterigenics Phase One Appeal
Financial outcomes to date have been substantial but uneven. The $408 million Willowbrook settlement, the $35 million Georgia settlement, the roughly $65 million in additional 2025 Willowbrook settlements, the $48.15 million STERIS/Isomedix Waukegan settlement, and the $20 million Walker verdict all point one direction; the Fornek, B. Braun, and Terumo BCT defense verdicts point the other. Whether a given plaintiff wins, settles, or loses depends on where the case is filed, what science the judge allows in, and how well the defendant can document compliance.