--- title: "The EPA Grossly Underestimated How Many Carcinogens are Polluting This Louisiana Region’s Air, Study Says" description: "A potent carcinogen called ethylene oxide is polluting the air in Louisiana's \"Cancer Alley\" at much higher levels than the EPA estimated." date: "2024-06-15" modified: "2024-06-15" authors: - name: "Maggie Harrison Dupré" job_title: "Senior Staff Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/mharrison" url: "https://futurism.com/study-epa-grossly-underestimated-carcinogens-louisiana" categories: - "Environment" - "Pollution" - "Science & Energy" tags: - "air pollution" - "cancer" - "louisiana" - "pollution" --- # The EPA Grossly Underestimated How Many Carcinogens are Polluting This Louisiana Region’s Air, Study Says ![A potent carcinogen called ethylene oxide is polluting the air in Louisiana's "Cancer Alley" at much higher levels than the EPA estimated.]() *LIONS, LA - OCTOBER: A family leaves Sunday church services surrounded by chemical plants in October of 1998 in Lions, Louisiana. The poor, often black towns along the Mississippi River near Baton Rouge are known as "Cancer Alley" for the high cancer clusters and the many chemical and oil production factories. (Photo by Andrew Lichtenstein/Corbis via Getty Images) \Image: Andrew Lichtenstein/Corbis via Getty Images\* A chemical plant-smattered stretch of Louisiana between New Orleans and Baton Rouge is already known as "[Cancer Alley]()" due to disproportionately high levels of illnesses related to chemicals released by the area's many manufacturing facilities. Now, according to a new study from researchers at Johns Hopkins University, the stretch of land — which, again, is *already called Cancer Alley —* is even worse off than scientists already thought. The study, [published this week in the journal *Environmental Science & Technology*](), examined the rates of a toxic gas called ethylene oxide in the air covering the Louisiana region. Ethylene oxide is a known and potent carcinogen linked to lymphomas, breast cancer, and other health and life-threatening illnesses, and was [banned]() in the European Union back in the early 1990s. But ethylene oxide is used to manufacture *other* chemicals, and though the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) [recognizes its toxicity](), chemical plants in Louisiana's Cancer Alley stretch continue to use the poisonous gas in their production processes — and as a result, leak ethylene oxide into the air. And yet, though it's long been known that the plants leak the poisonous gas, this new Johns Hopkins research finds that the EPA has been grossly underestimating exactly how much ethylene oxide is actually in Cancer Alley's air. According to these new findings, the area's average ethylene oxide level is *double* what [previous EPA models suggested]() — and well beyond levels considered safe for area inhabitants. "We expected to see ethylene oxide in this area," said study senior author Peter DeCarlo, an associate professor at the university's Department of Environmental Health and Engineering, [in a statement](). "But we didn't expect the levels that we saw, and they certainly were much, much higher than EPA's estimated levels." As explained in the study, any level of airborne ethylene oxide above 11 parts per trillion (PPT) is considered dangerous for long-term exposure (which, we should note, isn't really that much, and speaks to how toxic the gas is.) Horrifyingly, the researchers found ethylene oxide levels above 11 PPT in three-quarters of the overall area they studied, with *average* levels for affected areas hovering around 31 PPT. "We saw concentrations hitting 40 parts per billion," said DeCarlo, "which is more a thousand times higher than the accepted risk for lifetime exposure." The findings are staggering. And as the researchers note, those who live and work in the area have never — until now — had access to this kind of detailed, accurate data about ethylene oxide figures. And it's important to note that Cancer Alley's Black residents are disproportionately likely to develop petrochemical industry-related illness, and that the EPA has [openly accused]() Louisiana lawmakers of engaging in environmental racism. "There is just no available data, no actual measurements of ethylene oxide in air, to inform \[plant\] workers and people who live nearby what their actual risk is based on their exposure to this chemical," DeCarlo added. As [*Grist* reports](), the EPA — which very much needs to update its modeling data — moved this year to install heavier regulations on ethylene oxide use and emissions. And though that's certainly a necessary step, experts have continued to warn that the agency and other regulating bodies have been very slow to take it. "The fossil fuel and petrochemical industry has created a 'sacrifice zone' in Louisiana," Antonia Juhasz, a senior researcher on fossil fuels at Human Rights Watch, [said earlier this year]() after the global nonprofit released a [devastating report]() about the health consequences of Cancer Alley's rampant chemical and fossil fuel pollution. "The failure of state and federal authorities to properly regulate the industry has dire consequences for residents of Cancer Alley." Indeed, mitigating future exposure through strict regulations is essential. But so, too, is supporting the people and communities currently living ethylene oxide's harms. "These monitors are good," Rise St. James founder Sharon Lavigne, whose community action group [opposes petrochemical expansion](), told *Grist* of the Johns Hopkins report. "But in the meantime, people are dying." **More on pollution:** [*Scientists Discover the Villains Destroying the Planet* ]() ## Author At Futurism, I've reported extensively on the rise of AI as a cultural and business force shaping the media industry, and more broadly how those dynamics are changing how we all consume and share information and relate to one another. I'm also fascinated by public health policy and ethics, the role of emerging tech in politics and governance — and the powerful people and forces at those intersections — climate change, and the environment. My investigation on Sports Illustrated's use of AI-generated authors with fictional biographies won a 2024 Mirror Award for "Best Story on Media Coverage of Artificial Intelligence in Journalism and the Media" from Syracuse University's SI Newhouse School, I contributed to Niemen Lab's 2025 Predictions for Journalism series, and I've discussed my work for Futurism during appearances on NPR, CNN, the BBC, the CBC, and more. I grew up in rural Pennsylvania and attended the University of Massachusetts Amherst, where I played Division I field hockey for the Minutewomen as a midfielder. Since then, I've lived in New Orleans, Louisiana and Manhattan, New York. I spend my free time running, reading, perusing archival fashion, and searching for the world’s best negroni. I also have a debonair tuxedo cat, Westley, who's named after "The Princess Bride." ### Author social links [Bluesky]()