Sterilization Flashcards
Sources of contaminations
- Airborne
- Breath
- Skin
- Hair
- Clothing
- Surfaces
Methods to minimize contamination
- Airborne: use laminar airflow
- Breath: use masks
- Skin: nails must be scrubbed and hands and forearms washed with detergents
- Hair and clothing: wear sterile down over normal clothing, wear a cotton cap
- Working surfaces: clean with a bactericidal solution/ethyl alcohol
Definition of sterility
Absence of life; absolute freedom from biological contamination
Definition of sterilization
Inactivation/elimination of all viable organism and their spores
Definition of disinfectant
Substance used on non-living objects to render them non-infectious; kills vegetative bacteria, fungi, viruses but not spores e.g. formaldehyde
Definition of antiseptic
Substance used to prevent multiplication of microorganism when applied to living systems
Bacteriostatic in action but not necessarily bacteriocidal
Definition of bacteriostat
Substance which stops growth and multiplication of bacteria but does not necessarily kill them
Definition of bactericide
Substance that kills vegetative bacteria and some spores
Thermal death time
Time required to kill a particular organism under a given condition
What are the techniques for sterilization
- Steam sterilization
- Dry heat sterilization
- Filtration
- Gaseous
- Ionizing Radiation/Irradiation
Describe Steam sterilization
- Use steam under pressure in autoclaves
- Time, temp. 240C, pressure 20-30 lb
- Killing due to denaturation and coagulation of the microorganism’s proteins
- Highly effective, less time, inexpensive and large volumes
- therapeutic agent must be stable to water, heat
- Not for oily and moisture sensitive preparations
Applications for steam sterilization
- Solutions in ampoules
- vials
- instruments
- glassware
- surgical dressing
Describe dry heat sterilization
- No water used
- 160 - 170C for 2-4h in an oven
- Killing is due to dehydration of the microbial cells followed by slow oxidation
- Not for therapeutic agents that are thermolabile
Applications for dry heat sterilization
- Glassware
- Heat stable powders
- Paraffin
- Petrolatum
- Fixed oils
Describe filtration
- Physical removal of microorganisms by adsorption on the filter medium - filtration membrane
- Highly impt for sterilization of therapeutic agents especially heat sensitive materials
- Slow for large volumes and saturable (difficult to push a saturated material through the membrane)
- Membranes may absorb drug