The Michigan Health Department says it didn't find a significant increase in cancer among people near a medical-device manufacturer in Grand Rapids. Viant Medical, Inc., has operated in the city for almost 30 years but has been located at 520 Watson St. SW on the west side of Grand Rapids after moving there in 2015. The Michigan Department of Environmental quality revealed in a public meeting last March, that Viant had self-reported the leak of a dangerous gas last summer.
Part of Viant’s operations has been the sterilization of medical devices, using ethylene oxide, a gas known to cause cancers like myeloma and leukemia, as well as non-cancerous brain and nerve damage.
However, health officials had good news Wednesday, as tests found that there has not been a significant increase in the number of people getting cancer who live near the facility.
The only exception over a 15-year period was a blood cancer, but the department says it was based on 25 cases and wasn't significantly higher than the overall state rate.
Last March, the company said it would stop sterilizing equipment at the facility by the end of the year using the ethylene oxide, while state regulators have issued at least four pollution violations over the past two years.