Steam Sterilization Principles and Most Common Challenges
March 11, 2015 - 1:00 PM - 2:00 PM EDT
Steam sterilization has been used for more than a century to sterilize items that can withstand moisture and high temperature. Steam is water in the vapor state; it is therefore non-toxic, generally readily available, and relatively easy to control. A good understanding of basic steam sterilization principles and cycles is necessary to avoid challenges that can lead to non-sterile load items, poor performance of the equipment, personnel injury, lower productivity, higher operation and maintenance costs, and damage to load items. Steam sterilizers are used for numerous applications in the pharmaceutical and medical device industries. The focus of this presentation is saturated steam applications such as laboratory media sterilization, decontamination, and general component sterilization.