Can ethylene oxide be used as a sterilant?
Ethylene oxide, the gas used in all Andersen Products sterilisers, is one of the most effective sterilant available on the market. The simple answer is that ethylene oxide rips apart cell membranes, causing microorganisms to die. Ethylene oxide is a colorless, flammable gas.
How do you sterilize ethylene oxide?
The basic ETO sterilization cycle consists of five stages (i.e., preconditioning and humidification, gas introduction, exposure, evacuation, and air washes) and takes approximately 2 1/2 hrs excluding aeration time.
Is ethylene oxide used to sterilize medical equipment?
Ethylene oxide sterilization is an important sterilization method that manufacturers widely use to keep medical devices safe. For many medical devices, sterilization with ethylene oxide may be the only method that effectively sterilizes and does not damage the device during the sterilization process.
What devices are sterilized with ethylene oxide?
Ethylene oxide sterilizers are used to sterilize heat- and moisture- sensitive devices that would be damaged by pure steam or liquid chemical sterilization, including most plastic or rubber products (e.g., catheters, resuscitation bags, anesthesia masks, most fiberoptic instruments), as well as non-heat-sensitive …
Is ethylene oxide a disinfectant?
Ethylene oxide (EO) is the most commonly used agent in chemical sterilization. EO is an alkylating agent that kills microorganisms by inactivation of proteins, DNA, and RNA, and it is effective against vegetative bacteria, fungi, viruses, and spores.
What are the dangers of ethylene oxide?
Exposure to ethylene oxide may cause headache, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, breathing difficulty, drowsiness, weakness, exhaustion, eye and skin burns, frostbite, and reproductive effects. Workers may be harmed from exposure to ethylene oxide.
Which is sterilization equipment is used to deliver ethylene oxide?
Understanding the sterilization equipment which is used to deliver the ethylene oxide (EO or EtO) sterilization process is advantageous in considering sterilization options. This is especially true if the articles to be sterilized are of a new design and have never been previously subjected to the EO sterilization process.
What are the four parameters of ETO sterilization?
Overview. The four essential parameters (operational ranges) are: gas concentration (450 to 1200 mg/l); temperature (37 to 63°C); relative humidity (40 to 80%) (water molecules carry ETO to reactive sites); and exposure time (1 to 6 hours). These influence the effectiveness of ETO sterilization.
Is there a shortage of ethylene oxide sterilized devices?
This acceptance comes at an especially critical time for the FDA to continue our important work to mitigate ethylene oxide sterilized device shortages.
Is it dangerous to mix ethylene oxide with air?
Ethylene oxide is an extremely dangerous gas when allowed to mix with air1. It is very flammable and is a suspected carcinogen in humans2. The equipment engineers must take this into consideration when designing or modifying sterilizer equipment.
