The bruises on Alexandria Pittman’s body wouldn’t go away. Nor would the aches that plagued her at her new job as a warehouse worker at a distribution center in Lithia Springs, a small town 17 miles west of Atlanta, sorting and repackaging boxes containing medical devices. She was convinced the symptoms were connected to the job as a warehouse worker.

Pittman had applied to the position as a warehouse worker, run by the medical supply company ConMed, after learning about the opening from her fiancé, Derek Mitchell, who delivered products there as a warehouse worker. Every day she’d come home and complain to him about the mysterious aches and marks. At first, Mitchell tried to reassure her, guessing that the bruises were probably from bumping up against something. “I really didn’t think nothing of it,” he recalled.

The Harmful Health Effects of Ethylene Oxide for Medical Supply Warehouse Workers

Then, in the spring of 2019, came a surprising revelation. ConMed managers announced that the seemingly innocuous products in the boxes they were packaging had been sterilized with ethylene oxide, which the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency considers a carcinogen and is linked to lung and breast cancers as well as diseases of the nervous system. Suddenly, Pittman began connecting the dots between her symptoms and those of her fellow warehouse workers. It would later emerge that at least 50 warehouse workers experienced a slew of health effects tied to ethylene oxide exposure, including seizures, vomiting, and trouble breathing. Ambulances were routinely called to the facility after warehouse workers collapsed, convulsed from seizures, or broke out in hives. Several warehouse workers — including Pittman — developed cancer.

Since ConMed came clean about the exposure of warehouse workers to ethylene oxide, Pittman has suffered four strokes and had brain surgery. She’s currently undergoing chemotherapy for myeloma, according to multiple claims she has filed with the Georgia State Board of Workers’ Compensation for help paying her medical bills. After the second stroke, Mitchell was unable to care for her, and she moved in with her mother where she now lives. Mitchell and Pittman had planned to marry, but the $5,000 ring Mitchell purchased now sits collecting dust.

Read the full article about carcinogenic chemicals in medical supply warehouses at Grist.