To investigate the risks of exposure to ethylene oxide (EO) at current permissible levels and at past higher levels, an inception cohort of sterilizer operators and supervisors from the Central Processing Department (CPD), respiratory therapists, and engineers exposed to EO were identified at the McMaster University Medical Centre. A comparison group from Nutrition Services (NUTR) were matched ...

Nine preparations of six antiseptic substances were applied to the perineum of pregnant women at term in order to assess their efficacy in sterilizing the skin. The efficacy, in descending order of effectiveness, after three minutes' exposure, was p-chlor-m-xylenol in alcohol (surgical Dettol); chlorhexidine gluconate in detergent (Hibiscrub), followed by the aqueous preparations p-chlor-m-xyle...

Sterilization is a very popular word used in biomedical testing (like removal of all microorganisms on surface of an article or in fluid using appropriate chemical products). Motivated by this biological analogy, we, for the first time, introduce the concept of sterilization of an image, i.e., removing any steganographic information embedded in the image. Experimental results show that our tech...

This study describes an in vivo model for evaluating the sterilizing activity of compounds against persisting Mycobacterium tuberculosis. The initial treatment with isoniazid and rifampin in granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor gene-disrupted mice reduced the number of bacteria more than 99% within 3 weeks. A subsequent treatment with individual drugs was performed to assess their a...

SYNOPSIS A test piece is described for monitoring the performance of low-temperature steam-withformaldehyde sterilizers. Comparative tests have shown it to be more difficult to penetrate than an arterial catheter when exposed to the same sterilizing conditions. It is permanent and simple to use and maintain. The growth or non-growth of bacterial spores, in the convenient form of spore strips, i...

LEVEL: INTERMEDIATE L ast month, Part 1 of this article discussed some proven applications of chlorine dioxide (CD) gas and solutions as cleaning/sterilizing agents for isolators, process vessels, filter membranes, water systems, hard surfaces, and cleanrooms. Potential applications were also described, including the production of sterilized water from USP-grade water; sanitization of chromatog...