ABSTRACT
The process of reprocessing reusable, heat-sensitive medical and dental devices to make them patient safe is changing rapidly. Many safe systems for sterilization or high-level disinfection exist, and many more are on the drawing board. Gas plasma systems comprise another method for sterilizing critical heat-sensitive materials. In these systems, hydrogen peroxide, or a mixture of hydrogen peroxide and peroxyacetic acid, is vaporized into the sterilization chamber, where the vapor diffuses throughout the load. The advantage of gas plasma sterilizers is that they have relatively short cycle times of about 75 minutes, and their residuals are nontoxic water and oxygen. All liquid chemical germicides are toxic to microbial cells, which mean they will also be toxic, to various degrees, to human cells. Any antimicrobial chemicals recommended for use with medical devices must be approved for that use by the Food and Drug Administration.
