Glutaraldehyde retains its disinfectant properties in presence of hydroxypropylmethyl cellulose (HPMC) gel
✍ Scribed by Matchette, L. S. ;Vegella, T. J.
- Book ID
- 101255005
- Publisher
- John Wiley and Sons
- Year
- 1996
- Tongue
- English
- Weight
- 300 KB
- Volume
- 33
- Category
- Article
- ISSN
- 0021-9304
No coin nor oath required. For personal study only.
✦ Synopsis
Explanted medical devices are routinely sent to laboratories at the Center for Devices and Radiological Health for analysis. The shipping of these devices presents potential hazards to personnel as well as an opportunity for damage to the devices. In an effort to address these concerns, a viscous disinfecting shipping medium that would limit splashing and cushion a suspended device was proposed. Consequently, we investigated the disinfectant properties of adding a gelling agent, hydroxypropylmethyl cellulose ( H P M C ) to common disinfectants. We found that the germicidal effectiveness of 2.5% glutaraldehyde in 0.05 M borax when tested against Bacillus subtilis spores was not changed by the addition of 2% HPMC. In addition, H P M C appears to be compatible with 70% ethanol and a t least one commercial disinfectant containing a quaternary ammonium compound. Preliminary experiments indicate that an HPMC-disinfectant gel is a potentially useful packaging agent for minimizing the hazards to personnel and materials during shipping of explanted medical devices. The use of such a medium would be subject to guidelines within the context of a program for handling biologically contaminated materials.