A lawsuit filed last week in Kanawha County, West Virginia, alleges that Dow Chemical, its Union Carbide subsidiary, Bayer Crop Science LP, and other companies caused Charleston resident Cathy Darlene Flint to contract cancer after prolonged exposure to the dangerous chemical ethylene oxide (EtO). According to the lawsuit, EtO is found in high concentrations throughout the local area due to the defendants' negligence in producing, storing and using the chemical.

Flint has lived for more than 30 years directly across from the Union Carbide plant that used the compound in its manufacturing processes. She now has multiple myeloma, an incurable cancer of the plasma cells. She has undergone stem-cell treatment and ongoing rounds of chemotherapy in an attempt to stall the progression of the disease.

The lawsuit is led by prominent environmental tort attorney Stuart Calwell and his firm, Calwell Luce diTrapano PLLC.

Ethylene oxide is a powerful, cancer-causing gas that is highly reactive, with widely acknowledged adverse effects when inhaled, including DNA mutations and blood cancers. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), National Toxicology Program, the World Health Organization (WHO), and the International Agency for Research on Cancer all classify EtO as a known human carcinogen. The chemical is undetectable in all but the highest concentrations.