FILE - A syringe is prepared at a clinic in Norristown, Pa., Dec. 7, 2021. (Matt Rourke / AP Photo, File)

A rule finalized Thursday will reduce ethylene oxide emissions by about 90% by targeting nearly 90 commercial sterilization facilities across the country, the EPA said.

Sue Kamuda and her attorney Patrick Salvi II appear at a news conference after she was awarded $363 million from Sterigenics on Sept. 19, 2022. (WTTW News)

The company’s Willowbrook facility was closed in 2019, months after an EPA report discovered people living within 1.5 miles of the plant were 10 times more likely to develop cancer due to a gas called ethylene oxide that was used at the facility.

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The shocking indictment of state Rep. Luis Arroyo has overshadowed the Illinois legislature’s fall veto session. Still, consequential legislation advanced, including a bill that will lead to a prohibition of a chemical used to sterilize medical equipment.

In this Tuesday, June 28, 2016 file photo, a doctor prepares for a surgical procedure at a hospital in Washington. On Friday, Oct. 25, 2019, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration warned hospitals that they could soon face shortages of critical surgical tools and equipment due to a dwindling supply of the chemical used to sterilize many U.S. medical devices. (AP Photo/Molly Riley)

 Hospitals could soon face shortages of critical surgical tools because several plants that sterilize the equipment have been shut down, government health officials said Friday.

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A company under fire for using a carcinogenic gas to sterilize medical equipment announced Monday it is permanently closing its sole Illinois facility on account of an “unstable legislative and regulatory landscape.”

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A DuPage County judge signed off on a consent order Friday allowing for Sterigenics to reopen but with stricter emissions controls. What exactly does the settlement allow – and how soon can Sterigenics be fully operational?

A judge rules Sterigenics can reopen. The mayor hears "no new property taxes" at her first budget town hall meeting. Elected officials spar over city violence. And the Bears blow the 100th season opener.

The Sterigenics medical sterilization plant in west suburban Willowbrook. (WTTW News)

A medical sterilization plant in west suburban Willowbrook that’s been shuttered since February would reopen under a proposed court order, but not if residents who leave near the facility have their way.

The Sterigenics plant in Willowbrook (Chicago Tonight)

A medical supply sterilization company in suburban Willowbrook was shut down Friday by the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency due to elevated cancer risks.

John Berg, an environmental health specialist with the DuPage County Health Department, runs water from a private well in Willowbrook on Dec. 13, 2018, as part of testing for levels of cancer-causing ethylene oxide. (Alex Ruppenthal / WTTW)

Water samples collected at homes near a suburban medical sterilization plant linked to a cancer-causing gas showed no signs of contamination, environmental regulators announced Wednesday.

John Berg, an environmental health specialist with the DuPage County Health Department, runs water from a private well in Willowbrook on Thursday as part of testing for levels of cancer-causing ethylene oxide. (Alex Ruppenthal / WTTW)

Water testing at homes in suburban Willowbrook is the latest step in the response to concerns over the release of dangerous ethylene oxide gas by Sterigenics International. 

After reports of a dangerous gas being emitted from several suburban industrial sites, U.S. Sen. Tammy Duckworth and other lawmakers have introduced a bill that would force the EPA to more quickly disclose similar public health risks.