#sterilzation

[asktheequnots]

Have you been fixed?

Drake: You’re lucky Tasha left to visit her family! If she was here to laugh at us, so help me…..

Flinchy: #>m<#

Blue: -_-

Randy: What is even happening right now?

(( OOC: Thanks for being so patient with waiting for the answer for this funny question @reversalmushroom XD I had a lot of fun experimenting with poses and facial expressions XDD ))

[neonlily]

This is a post about Microbiology.

Just move along if you don't want to hear about it but I'm going to knowledge dump for my exam tomorrow. If you want to hear about sterilization agents then yes! Please listen!

ETO (Ethylene oxide) It's use to sterilize electronics! So weird. It's because electronics obviously cannot be sterilized in high heat or moisture (ie. Autoclave) so they have to be sterilized chemically but they have to sit for 7 days after to get rid of vapors. That's a long time. Major downside. It is also used to disinfect matterreses and bedding at hospitals but again, it needs to soak for 7-24 hours then sit for another 7 days. That's crazy! Anyways, it's a alkylating agent and inhibits the organisms metabolism.

Gamma Radiation - It's been billed as safe as a lot of foods and pharmaceuticals are actually sterilized by gamma radiation. Cobalt 60 rods! It kills the nucleic acids in bacteria and they die from that. 

UV Radiation - Ideally done in the UV-C specturm 100nm - 280 nm (best at 265nm). Must be done overnight or 12 hoursish. Kills pretty much everything as it cross links DNA to make Thymine Thymine dimers. Used in Operating rooms, packaging rooms, airducts etc. 

Gluteraldehyde is a high performing chemical agent. Used in 2% working solution and typically is in a stock standard of 22%. Cold Sterilization is typically done on endoscopes, respiratory therapy machines and the like but must follow a strict standard as Gluteraldehydes are extremely toxic and PPE must be worn. Possibly a carcinogen so there are a lot of precautions to take. It's non-corrosive to metal which is why it is commonly used but requires 30 min contact time to kill most organisms but 10hrs of contact time to kill spores.

QUATS - There are two levels of quats: One being high performing the other, low or intermediate. They bind to proteins and disrupt the cell membrane. They are non-corrosive and non-flammable but the low performing are inactivated by organic matter so cannot be used in hospitals. Typically used in animal processing plants and dairies but it was found that these QUATS were not properly used in the Listera break out at the Maple Leaf plant a few years ago. There are high performing QUATS available such as Conflikt but are quite expensive and not safe on food. Requires 10-30 minutes of contact time. Also, Pseudomonas can actually thrive and grow in QUATS which is quite interesting. They do have known efflux pumps so I'm curious about the actual mechanism. 

Alcohols such as 70% Isopropyl need minimum 70% OH content or will be fairly useless. It denatures the proteins within the cell and is regarded as a intermediate level of disinfection as it does not kill spores or non-enveloped viruses. It's flammable (obviously) and requires a 10 minute contact time which makes me question why alcohol is uses to disinfect your arm before receiving an injection? I mean, I guess it makes sense because it could wipe away most bacteria (mechanical disinfection) but still. Hopefully it renders most bacteria you could be carrying useless. 

Phenols, such as lysol, are regarded as low to intermediate performing. They typically do not kill spores, or most non-enveloped viruses but some can kill TB. They are toxic to cells even in 2% conc. but there are some bacteria that have adapted and can actually efflux pump the lysol out! It is flammable so typically used in a household and requires 10 minutes of contact time.  They are also corrosive so typically do not use Phenols or other carbolic acids on metals. 

Halogens such as bleach and iodophores are used in various ways. Chlorine is the preferred agent when trying to kill HIV as it is more effective but obviously less safe to use on skin, which is where iodophores are used. They are high performing disinfectants but will not kill TB. They are easily inactivated by organic material so are used to disinfect the skin rather than used internally. They are corrosive to metal and can produce toxic chlorine gas when they come in contact with an oxidizer (AKA do not mix bleach and windex together.) Like QUATS, this disrupts the membrane and binds protein. Bleach is typically used in 5.25% conc but is diluted to a working dilution to work on counter tops. 

THIS WAS DONE FROM MEMORY.