In our non-hospital environment you can certainly give your clients the greatest confidence that the items in use are sterile.

Items should be cleaned, dried and placed into sealable sterilization pouches. Though air is a source of microbes to possibly contaminate items after washing and before bagging, even hospital air has been measured to contain an estimated load of only 128 microbes per cubic meter, so air is not of great concern unless you live in areas that have a heavy soil particle air count.  Soils are the predominant source of spores.

Implantables require biological testing for the item and validation before the implant is considered safe to use.
Incubation usually takes 48 hours and 24 hours with newer technology.  

To be consistent with sterilization technology practiced medically, implantables would be held until biological sterility has been proven and only then released for use. In other words, an implant is not considered safe until it has been biologically tested, not merely run through a sterilization process: it must be Spore- Tested before use.

Sterilizing liquids are not a substitute for heat sterilization.  Cold sterilization liquids were developed for the high level disinfection of medical equipment that cannot  be heat sterilized without damage, such as camera lenses.  They provide the highest level of disinfection currently possible for these instruments and are used, not from choice, but necessity.  Liquid sterilants would not be used if the products they are designed for could withstand heat sterilization.  

Their use is not acceptable practice for the items we use because more appropriate and suitable heat sterilization is available.  The most widespread misconception is that different sterilizing technologies are interchangeable.

 Evaluation of the suitability of the product and use of the most effective sterilization technique is the cardinal rule. 

Sterilizing solutions  loose potency as used. A chemical germicide (such as Glutaraldehyde) looses potency as it is used.  The rate of loss of potency depends on the intensity of use and not the age of the solution.  Do not be misled by 14-day or 28-day labeling.  This labeling does not mean it retains its killing potency for that period of time but rather, once activated it will retain its potential potency for that period only, and the actual use of the product begins the deterioration of that potency.  The more it is used the less potent it becomes and the longer the item must be left in solution.  The very first use begins the diminishing of the potency and any water or liquids that may be on tools or any foreign matter will further contribute to the loss of potency. Sterilizing solutions cannot be easily biologically monitored.
This is further reason to reject their use.
BLOCK

continue