CHICAGO (CBS) — The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released an air survey near Vantage Specialty Chemicals’ manufacturing facility in Gurnee and Medline Industries’ medical sterilization facility in Waukegan.
The study showed high levels of ethylene oxide (C₂H₄O), a gas that can cause cancer.
For years, CBS 2 Researchers documented cases of cancer in the areas around the factories.
In 2019, Lake County, along with the city governments of Waukegan and Gurnee, set up testing sites to determine how much ethylene oxide was in the air.
“We found ethylene oxide in every sample we tested,” Larry Mackey of Lake County said in 2019.
The CDC said in its new study that as many as 51 people living within 1 mile of Medline could have been harmed by long-term exposure to the gas.
In recent years, the companies have installed emissions controls, which appears to reduce the risk, according to the CDC.
