Chapter 8 Flashcards
Destruction or removal of all viable microbes from an object or a particular environment.
sterilization
The killing, inhibition, or removal of microbes that may cause disease.
disinfection
Agents used to carry out disinfection of inanimate objects
disinfectant
Reduction of the microbial population to safe levels as determined by public health standards
sanitization
The prevention of infection by controlling microbes on living tissue.
antisepsis
Chemical agents applied to living tissue to prevent infection
antiseptics
A chemical or physical agent that inactivates microbes.
biocide
A process that sterilizes by using repeating cycles of steam and incubation.
tyndallization
The time required to kill 90% of microbes or spores in a sample at a specific temp.
decimal reduction time (D-Value)
The increase in temp. required to reduce D to 1/10 its value.
Z value
The process in which a mircrobial population is reduced by raising the temp. of heat-sensitive materials to something less than the boiling point of water for a relatively short periods of time.
pasteurization
An antimicrobial agent that inhibits the growth of fungi
fungistatic
Organic molecules that serve as wetting agents and emulsifiers; useful in disinfectants.
detergents
A test that measures the efficiency of disinfectant by comparing it to phenol.
phenol coefficient test
An antimicrobial agent that kills pathogens (and many nonpathogens but not necessarily endospores)
germicide
Boiling water is effective against ______ cells and eukar. spores but not _________
vegetative; bacterial spores
Autoclaving is effective against most ______ and _______.
vegetative cells; bacterial endospores
Thick fibrous or granular filters that remove microbes by physical screening, entrapment & adsorption.
depth filters
Thin filters with defined pore sizes that remove microbes, primarily by physical screening
membrane filters
How can air be sterilized?
surgical masks, cotton plugs, and HEPA filters
UV radiation is effective but its use is _______ to surface sterilization because UV ______ penetrate glass, dirt films, water, and other substances.
limited; does not
What type of radiation is gamma? And does it penetrate through material?
ionizing; yes
Lab/hospital disinfectants; act by denaturing proteins and disrupting cell membranes; i.e. Lysol & Triclosan
phenolics
Widely used disinfectants; will NOT kill endospores; i.e. ethanol and isopropanol
alcohols
Widely used antiseptics; iodine acts by oxidizing cell constituents and iodinating cell proteins; chlorine acts primarily by oxidizing cell constituents.
halogens
Cationic detergents used as disinfectants for food utensils and small instruments, and antiseptics for skin; act by disrupting biological membranes and possibly denaturing proteins. i.e benzalkonium chloride (Zephirin) and cetylpyridinium chloride (Ceepryn)
quaternary ammonium compounds
Reactive molecules that can be used as chemical sterilants; may irritate the skin.
aldehydes
Can be used to sterilize heat-sensitive materials such as plastic culture dishes and disposable syringes. i.e. ethylene oxide & betapropiolactone
sterilizing gasses
