What can you sterilize with ethylene oxide?
What can you sterilize with ethylene oxide?
Ethylene oxide sterilizers are used to sterilize heat- and moisture- sensitive devices that would be damaged by pure steam or liquid chemical sterilization, including most plastic or rubber products (e.g., catheters, resuscitation bags, anesthesia masks, most fiberoptic instruments), as well as non-heat-sensitive …
Is EtO sterilization banned?
EO is not banned by any U.S. regulatory agencies. While most of the EO is used to make common house hold products such as detergents, polyester, cosmetics and antifreeze, only a small fraction is used for sterilization.
How can you protect yourself from ethylene oxide?
What Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) is needed when working with ethylene oxide?
- Eye/Face Protection: Wear chemical safety goggles. A face shield (with safety goggles) may also be necessary.
- Skin Protection: Wear chemical protective clothing e.g. gloves, aprons, boots.
- Respiratory Protection:
Is ethylene oxide toxic to humans?
Chronic (long-term) exposure to ethylene oxide in humans can cause irritation of the eyes, skin, nose, throat, and lungs, and damage to the brain and nervous system. There also is some evidence linking ethylene oxide exposure to reproductive effects.
What is the side effect of ethylene oxide?
Acute exposures to EtO gas may result in respiratory irritation and lung injury, headache, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, shortness of breath, and cyanosis. Chronic exposure has been associated with the occurrence of cancer, reproductive effects, mutagenic changes, neurotoxicity, and sensitization.
How much ethylene oxide is safe?
A periodic report from the Environmental Protection Agency states that to maintain the safety of public health and reduce adverse health effects, human exposure to Ethylene Oxide should be “limited to one part per million parts of air measured as an eight-hour time-weighted average.”
Is it safe to use ethylene oxide?
Exposure to ethylene oxide may cause headache, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, breathing difficulty, drowsiness, weakness, exhaustion, eye and skin burns, frostbite, and reproductive effects. Workers may be harmed from exposure to ethylene oxide. The level of exposure depends upon the dose, duration, and work being done.
Can ethylene oxide ever be considered safe?
There are many sources of human exposure to ethylene oxide, including the human body itself. Human bodies evolved making ethylene oxide. At normal levels of exposure, we are safe.
Why use ethylene oxide (EO) for sterilizing medical devices?
Ethylene oxide (EO) sterilization is the most common industrial sterilization technique for medical devices. It is a relatively ‘cold’ sterilization technique and offers high compatibility with most materials used in the manufacture of medical devices, such as plastics, polymers, metals and glass. Its lethality is driven by a chemical reaction (alkylation) with the DNA of bacteria, viruses, molds, yeasts and even insects.
How flammable is ethylene oxide?
Ethylene Oxide (EtO) CAS 75-21-8 Physical Hazards Ethylene Oxide (EtO) is an extremely flammable and reactive material which is a gas at room temperature. It has a flash point of -0.4oF and an extremely large flammable range of 3 to 100%. It is very water soluble and solutions of as little as 4% in water are flammable.
How does ethylene oxide sterilize?
Ethylene oxide (also known as EO or EtO) processing is widely used for the sterilization of healthcare devices and instruments. The process involves exposing products to ethylene oxide gas under vacuum in a sealed chamber. EO sterilization assures that a safe and sterile product will be delivered to the market each and every time.