Chicago Law Firm Retained by Multiple Effected Willowbrook Families Announces Investigation into Toxic Emissions Released from Sterigenics International

Attorneys from Romanucci & Blandin, LLC and Hart McLaughlin & Eldridge, representing multiple effected area families, announced today an investigation into the Willowbrook based company, Sterigenics International, and to demand full transparency and accountability from the company whose toxic emissions could cause serious health issues.

Sterigenics International provide product sterilization services have been emitting levels of a gas, ethylene oxide, that could be harmful to public health, according to a report from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry.

At a public forum held by Willowbrook officials Wednesday, hundreds of enraged residents called for the Willowbrook company to be shut down at least until the harmful effects of ethylene oxide in its sterilization processes are more thoroughly understood.

“The potential ramifications of this revelation are catastrophic – the EPA has reported that human exposure to ethylene oxide causes cancer, and numerous other serious health risks, such as DNA mutations and birth defects,” said Gina A. DeBoni, Managing Attorney at Romanucci & Blandin, LLC. “Residents of the community, including several with cancer or with relatives that have died of cancer, have reached out to our law firms to investigate the harmful effects of this toxic exposure.

Our goal here is a lawsuit if our investigation does in fact reveal negligence or knowledge on anyone’s part that resulted in the needless and unnecessary poisoning of men, women, and children.”

The EPA has classified ethylene oxide as a carcinogen that has the ability to damage DNA and create a high-risk to cause cancer. In December 2016, the EPA increased the cancer risk from adult-based inhalation of ethylene oxide by 30-fold, based on updated research. The implications of ethylene oxide are severe as more than 19,000 people live within a mile of the Sterigenics facility.

About Romanucci & Blandin, LLC
Romanucci & Blandin has been rated as a leading civil trial practice law firm in Chicago concentering in catastrophic personal injury, medical malpractice, police misconduct, and bullying and hazing cases. The attorneys at the Chicago law firm represent individuals and their families in catastrophic personal injury matters, wrongful death and workers’ compensation cases. The cases that are referred to Romanucci & Blandin involve accidents or injuries which occurred due to negligence and carelessness on the part of individuals, governmental bodies and corporations of all sizes. Since its inception more than 16 years ago, Romanucci & Blandin has secured more than $500 million in verdicts and settlements on behalf of their clients. For more information about Romanucci & Blandin, please visit www.rblaw.net or call (312) 458-1000.

About Hart McLaughlin & Eldridge
Hart McLaughlin & Eldridge (“HME”) is a firm of trial lawyers specializing in mass tort and class action cases. The attorneys at HME practice on a nationwide basis in both federal and state courts, and are actively involved in some of the largest and most significant mass tort and class action cases in the country. HME lawyers have particular expertise in toxic torts, carcinogen and environmental exposure, occupational and para-occupational exposure to toxins, and the fields of medical causation, oncology, and epidemiology. For more information about Hart McLaughlin & Eldridge please visit www.hmelegal.com or call (312) 955-0545.