Antiseptics, Disinfectants & Sterilization

This lesson will discuss the di erences between antisepsis, disinfection, and sterilization as well as some of the
methods used for sterilization and antiseptic compounds you may have used yourself.

Ways to Defend Against Infection

Whether you are going in for surgery or are just cleaning your house, there are all sorts of di erent
ways by which you can try to kill potentially deadly bacteria, viruses, and other harmful pathogens.
Three of these ways are antisepsis, disinfectants and sterilization.

These three di erent techniques are super important in keeping a clean home or in preventing
potentially deadly infections during surgery. We'll see how these two seemingly di erent actions,
cleaning the house and surgery, may actually overlap.

Disinfection
In the doctor's o ce, or at home, someone almost certainly performed a task called disinfection.
Disinfection is the process of destroying and eliminating almost all of the microorganisms on
inanimate objects and surfaces.

If that de nition confused you then don't worry. I am 99.9% sure you intrinsically know what this
actually means. For, if you've ever seen a commercial touting that a certain spray kills 99.9% of
germs, then you were dealing with something called a disinfectant.

This disinfectant is sprayed on inanimate, or non-living, objects, such as windows, your kitchen's
countertops, and the cabinets in a doctor's o ce, to eliminate virtually all living microorganisms on
that object or surface.

The key thing to remember is that disinfectants do not eliminate all microorganisms and are used
on inanimate, or non-living, objects. Furthermore, the amount and type of microorganism killed not
only depends on the kind of organisms being targeted, such as a bacteria, viruses, or fungi, but also
the type of disinfectant used.

That's because not all disinfectants can get every type of microorganism, and even the best
disinfectants may not work very well if the temperature isn't just right, the concentration of the
disinfectant is o , or there is a lot of dirt on the surface of the object that must be penetrated.
That's why prior to disinfecting something like a toy that was lying around outside, it's important to
clean o any dirt and debris you can see with your naked eye prior to using a disinfectant that kills
the microorganisms that you cannot see. Other factors, such as the type of surface being
disinfected, the length of time the disinfectant is used for, and the way the disinfectant is applied
may also in uence its e ectiveness.

As a morbid metaphor, you can compare the e ectiveness of a disinfectant on a certain

microorganism to the way a murderer (the disinfectant) may try to kill a person (the
microorganism). For example, someone may try to kill a person by dropping them into the sea, far
from shore, in the hopes that the person will drown. But if that person is a good swimmer, then
that method of killing won't be as e ective as frying that person to death instead. That's why you
have to be careful in which disinfectant you use to kill a certain type of microorganism.

Finally, some disinfectants kill microorganisms outright while others simply inhibit their growth. If a
disinfectant ends in the su x -cidal, such as bactericidal, then it kills that type of microorganism.
However, if it ends in the term -static, such as bacteriostatic, then it inhibits the growth of that
microorganism. In the case of the latter, the bacteria will eventually die due to something like old
age, and because they couldn't have children, theoretically no more bacteria should be left after a
certain period of time.

Sterilization
In any case, disinfection is in slight contrast to something known as sterilization. Sterilization is the
destruction of all microorganisms on an inanimate surface or object. As you can tell, both
sterilization and disinfection work on inanimate objects or surfaces. However, sterilization gets all,
as opposed to most, microorganisms. It's unequivocal. It's either all or nothing.

Therefore, it's highly unlikely that you went ahead and sterilized something like your kitchen
countertop. This would be very di cult, expensive, and dangerous to do unless you are very well
trained and have a lot of nifty chemicals or equipment.

However, sterilization is very important in places like a hospital, where a doctor or surgeon will
need to use surgical instruments for a certain procedure. These surgical instruments must be
sterile prior to use. That's because if they have even one little microorganism on it and that
microorganism jumps o of the surgical instrument and into the cut the surgeon makes into your
body, you can get a life-threatening infection!

The most common way by which objects, such as surgical instruments, are sterilized is through a
process known as autoclaving. This is a procedure that uses steam under pressure, to destroy all
living microorganisms on inanimate objects and surfaces.

The basic way by which an autoclave works is pretty easy to understand. Whenever anything,
including steam, is put under high pressure, it heats up to a very high temperature. This high
temperature is then used to kill even the hardiest of microorganisms, such as bacterial endospores,
which are typically resistant to high temperatures. However, even endospores cannot withstand
the super high temperatures the autoclave produces and therefore they end up dying along with
any other pathogens located on the surgical instruments.

You can basically liken this procedure to being stuck into an extremely hot sauna with an elephant
sitting on your chest. If the pressure from the elephant on your chest doesn't squish you to death,
then the super high heat that is generated will essentially boil you alive and you'll end up dying
anyways. Nevertheless, autoclaving isn't the only method of sterilization. Gases, such as ethylene
oxide, and cold chemical liquid sterilants can be used in addition to certain methods of ltration.

Antisepsis
While disinfection and sterilization are used for inanimate objects, we must sometimes try and
destroy bacteria on living things, such as our skin after a cut or prior to surgery.

The destruction or prevention of growth of most pathogens on living tissue is called antisepsis.
Note that like disinfection, most, but not all, microorganisms are killed, and unlike both sterilization
and disinfection, antisepsis refers to living tissue. A substance that performs this process is known
as an antiseptic.

You have undoubtedly used an antiseptic before. Recall the last time you cut yourself and cleaned
your wound. You probably used some alcohol, hydrogen peroxide, or some other substance to
clean the wound as best as you could. Those are all examples of antiseptics, many of which, among
others such as iodine, are also used in hospital settings to clean the skin of a patient prior to
making a surgical incision.

However, you must remember that no matter which compound you use on your body to try and
kill microorganisms located on it, it is never sterile. Therefore, if anyone ever tells you that you have
sterilized your skin after using some rubbing alcohol on it, they are not using proper terminology.
Skin is never sterile. And as a quick side note, it's best to avoid using certain antiseptics, such as
hydrogen peroxide, on open wounds, especially for too long of a time, as they may actually damage
your body's healthy cells.

Lesson Summary
So, as a review, recall that in the doctor's o ce, or at home, someone almost certainly performed a
task called disinfection. Disinfection is the process of destroying and eliminating almost all of the
microorganisms on inanimate objects and surfaces.

Disinfection is in slight contrast to something known as sterilization. Sterilization is the destruction

of all microorganisms on an inanimate surface or object.

The most common way by which objects, such as surgical instruments, are sterilized is through a
process known as autoclaving. This is a procedure that uses steam under pressure, to destroy all
living microorganisms on inanimate objects and surfaces.
Finally, the destruction or prevention of growth of most pathogens on living tissue is called
antisepsis. Note that like disinfection, most, but not all microorganisms are killed, and unlike both
sterilization and disinfection, antisepsis refers to living tissue. A substance that is used for
antisepsis is known as an antiseptic.

Learning Outcome
The information gained from this lesson will help you compare and contrast the destruction of
microorganisms through disinfection, sterilization and antisepsis.
Autoclaves and Moist Heat Sterilization: Use With Surgical Tools

This lesson will discuss what an autoclave is, how it works, and what it's used for. We'll also discuss the
disadvantages of an autoclave, bacterial endospores, and how sterilization is important in the context of
nosocomial infections.

Pressure Cooker
If you had the choice of using a pressure cooker or a simple stovetop pot to cook something really
quickly, you would certainly choose the pressure cooker. That's because a pressure cooker seals
your food and water in an airtight container. A source of heat, such as gas or electricity, is applied
to the pressure cooker to heat it up. Because neither air nor liquid can escape the pressure cooker,
it heats up very quickly and therefore allows the food to be cooked much more quickly as well.

The Purpose of an Autoclave

This same exact process is used in something known as an autoclave, which is a device that uses
moist heat - that is to say steam - under pressure to kill o all living microorganisms on any object
or surface contained within it.

The reason an autoclave uses steam is because steam is essentially the gaseous form of water.
Water is able to transfer heat far more rapidly than dry air alone. I'm sure you know this if you've
watched some survival show that mentioned the fact that people lose body heat far more rapidly in
cold water than cold, dry air. Well, now you know why.

Anyways, the steam in an autoclave is placed under a lot of pressure. This is done because
anything under pressure, be it steam or dry air, increases in temperature very quickly. The very
high temperature in an autoclave quickly kills o any living organism in it, including bacteria, fungi,
viruses, and even hardy bacterial endospores. That's because extremely high heat will denature, or
destroy, the proteins that make up the structure of a pathogen.

Bacterial Endospores
The reason an autoclave is so important is because it gets the pesky endospores, which are very
tough, long-lasting, dormant forms of bacteria that I mentioned before. These spores are formed
when conditions favorable to the bacteria's survival, such as proper temperature and nutrition,
become unfavorable.
You can liken these bacteria to hedgehogs. If everything is ne, the hedgehogs will walk around just
minding their business. If they feel threatened, they curl up into a protective ball. That's what these
bacteria do - they curl up into a protective ball when they feel threatened.

These endospores are so tough that they can resist common household disinfectants. What's
worse is they can survive being boiled for a very long time.

So, one way to ensure they are killed on something as important as surgical instruments, which will
enter your body during an operation, is to put those instruments in an autoclave. That's because
the extremely high heat and pressure generated by the autoclave will be enough to kill even these
hardy forms of bacteria.

If they are not killed with proper sterilization and they enter your body by way of a contaminated
surgical instrument during an operation, you may end up dying from a nosocomial infection,
which is an infection acquired in the hospital.

As a way to ensure that an autoclave reached a critical temperature high enough to kill these
endospores and other microorganisms, test strip indicators are placed within it during an
autoclaving procedure. If they change color, they indicate that the autoclave reached a
temperature high enough to kill all life forms inside it.

You can liken this color-changing test strip to those cool heat-sensitive pencils. If you hold one for
long enough, it will change color due to the heat coming o of your hand. These test strips use the
same exact principle.

The Downside of an Autoclave

While an autoclave is an awesome way to get rid of all living microorganisms on an important
object such as a surgical instrument, it's not without its faults. For example, if an instrument isn't
cleaned well enough prior to being placed in an autoclave, the autoclave may fail.

Imagine if there was a piece of tissue left attached to the surgical instrument prior to placement in
the autoclave. This would be akin to giving our hedgehog a little house under which it can hide to
escape the heat and pressure that is trying to kill it. Likewise, microorganisms can use this
macroscopic dirt and debris as a shelter to survive being autoclaved.

In addition, you can logically understand that steam under pressure isn't a great way to sterilize
any type of material. Heat, steam, and pressure will do very little to high-quality German steel
surgical instruments. However, if you were to put a paper object into an autoclave, it would be
destroyed! Imagine taking a piece of paper into the shower with you. All of that steam would cause
it to wrinkle. Other objects, such as plastic, may melt under the intense heat produced by the
autoclave. Therefore, other sterilization techniques, such as gas sterilization by way of ethylene
oxide, can be used for moisture-sensitive equipment, or cold liquid sterilants can be used for heat-
sensitive equipment.
Lesson Summary
Regardless of which method of sterilization is used, all living organisms, including endospores,
which are very tough, long-lasting, dormant forms of bacteria, should be killed during the process
of sterilization.

One way to kill these endospores is by using something known as an autoclave, which is a device
that uses moist heat - that is to say steam - under pressure to kill o all living microorganisms on
any object or surface contained within it.

If an autoclave or some other form of sterilization isn't used in the hospital, then you may acquire a
nosocomial infection, which is an infection acquired in the hospital. Sometimes, these nosocomial
infections can be deadly.

Learning Outcomes
After this lesson is done, you should be able to:

Describe what an autoclave is and how it works in sterilization

De ne endospores and understand why they are more di cult to kill than other bacteria

Recall what a nosocomial infection is

Summarize the use of test strips to make sure an autoclave is doing its job

List some of the disadvantages of autoclaves

Sterilization by Irradiation: Method & Types

This lesson will talk about ionizing and non-ionizing radiation, what they're used for and what the di erent types
are. For example, we'll touch base on gamma irradiation, electron irradiation, x-ray irradiation and U.V. radiation.

Scary Radiation
Radiation is a scary word. We've all seen the movies that show how radiation creates three-eyed
sh, or how it causes tumors to grow on the side of someone's head. And, while the dangers of
radiation are very real, radiation can actually be used to our bene t. That's because it's not just the
sh and people that may su er from the damaging e ects of radiation - it's the things we can't see,
such as harmful bacteria and viruses, that may su er as well.

Sterilization Using Ionizing Radiation

One way in which sterilization by way of irradiation may occur is when ionizing radiation is used.
In the context of sterilization, ionizing radiation is a type of short wavelength, high intensity
radiation that is used to destroy all microorganisms during sterilization. The forms of ionizing
radiation used for sterilization are known as gamma irradiation, electron irradiation and x-ray
irradiation.

The precise, physics-based details of each type of radiation are best left for a physics lesson. What
you should know is that this ionizing radiation produces disruptions in subatomic particles involved
in the formation of the microorganism. In normal person speak, this means that the ionizing
radiation directly or indirectly causes damage to the genetic material - DNA or RNA - inside of the
microorganisms. If the DNA or RNA is damaged, the cell will die. Even more simply, this radiation
damages the hard drive of a bacterial computer, causing it to shut down for good.

Using irradiation to sterilize something is great if the object you're trying to sterilize is sensitive to
the extreme heat created by something like an autoclave. However, using ionizing radiation for
sterilization isn't always practical in real life, and the FDA has not cleared any ionizing radiation
sterilization techniques for healthcare facilities.

There are numerous reasons for this and for why many facilities wouldn't want to use this method
of sterilization in the rst place. First of all, it's expensive. Secondly, it may actually damage some of
the material it's trying to sterilize. And, third of all, it's dangerous. If it can kill bacteria, you better
believe it can kill you as well if it's used improperly.
Disinfection Using Non-Ionizing Radiation
The alternative to ionizing radiation has a kind of anti-climactic name. It's called non-ionizing
radiation. This is a long wavelength, low energy, low penetration radiation used for disinfection or
super cial sterilization. One type of non-ionizing radiation is called U.V. radiation.

Non-ionizing radiation in the form of U.V. radiation isn't considered to be a good sterilant, meaning
it can't kill every living organism it targets because it is a relatively weak form of irradiation that
cannot always get every type of organism. Therefore, it's more of a disinfectant, or something used
to kill most, but not all, living organisms on an inanimate object, or it is at the very best a super cial
sterilant. That's because near U.V. radiation cannot penetrate below the surface of anything. It's
only good for disinfection or sterilization of things like the surfaces of tables or any relatively dust-
free air in a room.

For example, imagine you were a bacterium crawling along the surface of a table. If you knew that
someone was going to use a U.V. lamp to try and kill you, then you would jump into a microscopic
crack on the surface of the table in order to protect yourself. That crack will serve as a sort of cave
where no light can penetrate into it. If no U.V. light reaches you in that crack, you'll be completely
safe from the destructive e ects of non-ionizing U.V. radiation.

Keeping that in mind, I'm sure you've seen toothbrushes being sold with U.V. sanitizers as part of
the deal. Well, if the manufacturer is using safe levels of U.V. radiation to sanitize the toothbrush,
the radiation will only get the microorganisms at the very surface of the toothbrush. Deeper down,
where the organisms are shielded by the bristles, they remain unharmed.

You shouldn't be surprised then, that one study showed that using hydrogen peroxide for reducing
the number of bacteria located on a toothbrush was actually more e ective than a toothbrush with
a U.V. sanitizer. In any case, U.V. radiation works by causing a similar end result as ionizing
radiation; namely, the destruction of nucleic acids of microbial cells, resulting in their death.

Lesson Summary
So, let's review the methods of radioactive destruction we can use on disease-causing
microorganisms, or any microbes for that matter. One way in which sterilization by way of
irradiation may occur is when ionizing radiation is used. In the context of sterilization, ionizing
radiation is a type of short wavelength, high intensity, low temperature radiation that is used to
destroy all microorganisms during sterilization.

The forms of ionizing radiation used for sterilization are known as gamma irradiation, electron
irradiation and x-ray irradiation. The alternative to ionizing radiation has a kind of anti-climactic
name. It's called non-ionizing radiation. This is a long wavelength, low energy, low penetration
radiation used for disinfection or super cial sterilization. One type of non-ionizing radiation is
called near U.V. radiation and it's useful for the disinfection or sterilization of things like air or
table surfaces.
Learning Outcomes
When you have completed this lesson, you should be able to:

Di erentiate between ionizing and non-ionizing radiation

Recognize the three types of ionizing radiation

Explain how ionizing radiation kills microorganisms

List some of the dangers of ionizing radiation

Describe some of the drawbacks of using non-ionizing radiation, such as U.V. radiation, as a sterilant
What Is Gas Plasma Sterilization? - Definition and Applications

This lesson discusses something known as plasma as well as hydrogen peroxide gas plasma, ions, electrons, and
more. We'll talk about how gas plasma is used for sterilization and what it kills.

The Four States of Matter

Life is made up of di erent states of matter, meaning we have solids, such as rocks, that help to
make up our planet. Our world is also full of liquids that sustain life, such as water. Finally, gases
are super important as well, especially the air we breathe. Gases, solids, and liquids are the three
states of matter that I'm positive you have heard of. However, there's one more, a fourth state of
matter, which is commonly missed by most people.

What Is Plasma?
This state of matter is known as plasma, which in the context of this lesson is a gas-like substance
consisting of particles such as positive ions and electrons. Note how this term isn't referencing the
plasma membranes cells have or blood plasma. It's something else altogether. It's actually sort of
cooler in a way.

The details of the di erences between plasma and the other three states of matter are best left for
a physics lesson. However, I'll go over the basic concepts necessary to understand how plasma
works in the context of sterilization. As I intimated before, plasma is a collection of things like ions
and electrons. Don't be confused by those terms, as I'll brie y go over them.

I'm sure you know that the atom is the basic unit of matter. Atoms combine to form larger
structures, called molecules, which in turn combine to form even larger structures, like a human
being. To put it another way, an atom is a letter in the alphabet, a word made of up of several
letters is a molecule, and an entire book written using words is akin to a human being. Each atom -
each letter that is - is made up of di erent parts as well.

For example, the small letter 'i' has a vertical line and a dot at the top. Likewise, atoms are made up
of smaller, or subatomic, particles called electrons, protons, and neutrons. If an atom has an equal
number of protons, which are positively charged, and electrons, which are negatively charged, it's
considered to be a neutral atom. However, if it has more protons than electrons, or vice versa, it
becomes positively or negatively charged, respectively. An atom with a positive or negative charge
is known as an ion.
Gas, Plasma, and Sterilization
Now that we've got that little physics tidbit out of the way, it will be easier to understand how
something called hydrogen peroxide gas plasma, a type of substance used for sterilization,
actually works. First, hydrogen peroxide, a type of highly reactive compound, is added to a
chamber, where it is vaporized into a gaseous state. Once the gaseous state of hydrogen peroxide
is achieved, an electrical eld is applied to it. This electrical eld causes the gas to ionize, meaning,
just as I described before, ions and electrons are generated, and we form something that is called
gas plasma. In the course of creating this plasma, something known as a free radical is formed.

If I was a betting man, then I would guess that you have heard of free radicals before. You've
probably read about how the sun causes your skin to be damaged by free radicals, or how you
should take vitamin C or vitamin E to help prevent free radical damage to your body, and so on.
The reason free radicals are so dangerous is because these are particles that basically react with
anything that comes in their way and end up destroying it.

To illustrate, you can think of a free radical as a really hot ame from a super-charged blowtorch. It
doesn't matter if the hot ame is brie y touched to something easily destroyed, like paper, or to
something tough, like a brick. Given enough time and exposure to the ame, the ame will end up
cracking and destroying even the hardiest substances. Likewise, given enough free radical damage,
cell walls, nucleic acids, and so forth can be destroyed in a cell. This type of damage may even lead
to cancer.

However, when used in the context of gas plasma sterilization, these free radicals become our best
friends, as they destroy bacteria, viruses, fungi, and dangerous bacterial spores, much like a really
hot ame from a blowtorch would as well. The great thing about gas plasma is that it's non-toxic
compared to other methods of sterilization. Gas plasma can also sterilize very quickly and can be
applied to virtually any, especially heat-sensitive, material that needs to be sterilized.

Lesson Summary
While this was more of a physics lesson, do recall that hydrogen peroxide gas plasma, a type of
substance used for sterilization, kills bacteria, viruses, fungi, and even bacterial spores. Therefore, it
has quite a lot of applications when it comes down to keeping inanimate objects, such as medical
devices, free from living microbes.

The state of matter generated by electrically charging hydrogen peroxide vapor is known in general
as plasma, which in the context of this lesson is a gas-like substance consisting of particles such as
positive ions and electrons.

An atom with a positive or negative charge is known as an ion. However, besides ions and
electrons, free radicals are generated when hydrogen peroxide gas plasma is made. These free
radicals react with virtually any structure that makes up a microbe, destroying the microbe in the
process.
Learning Outcomes
After this lesson is nished, you should be able to:

Explain the physics of plasma

De ne hydrogen peroxide gas plasma

Describe the sterilization process involving hydrogen peroxide gas plasma

Sterilization by Filtration: Advantages & Disadvantages

This lesson will cover how sterilization may be achieved through the process of ltration. We'll discuss how it
works, what it is, its advantages and disadvantages, and much more.

The Filtration of Water

At home or near the o ce cooler, you've probably come across puri ed and ltered water. This
water is supposed to be free from all sorts of impurities, ranging from chemicals, to even bacteria.
Some of the methods used by your local city to purify the water include chemicals, such as
chlorine, while other methods, more close to home, utilize little lters to further rid your water of
contaminants large and small.

What Is Filtration?
However, it's rare that most of us stop and consider what that water lter at the o ce water cooler
or in the fridge at home actually does. While there are many di erent types of lters, including air
lters, and mechanisms of ltration, one of the simplest ones you could possibly use involves
basically some type of paper with a bunch of holes in it.

Imagine this: if you were to rip a piece of paper out of a notebook and punch a hole through it
using your st, the hole would be big enough to let a tennis ball through. If you decided to poke a
hole into the paper using just your nger, then the tennis ball wouldn't go through, but something
like a grape or anything smaller would still go through. Finally, if you were to stick a needle through
the page instead, the tennis ball and grape wouldn't pass through, but something as small as a
speck of dust just might.

Those are the basics of something known as ltration, which is the process of separating out
matter based on chemical or physical properties. Filtration sometimes uses membranous lters
that have pores. These pores are holes of varying sizes found in lters that stop anything larger
than their size from passing through. Therefore, the smaller the pore, the more likely the lter is to
stop more things from going through to the other side of the lter. If the pores of a lter that is
designed to remove a microbe are small enough, they should be able to stop all living things from
getting through. For example, pore sizes in a lter should be much smaller for ltering out viruses
and bacteria than bacteria alone, since viruses are so much smaller than most bacteria.
Besides using membranes lled with pores to lter out certain microbes, there are other types of
lters that can be used to lter out di erent types of substances. For example, air can be ltered
using something known as a HEPA lter. This stands for a 'high-e ciency particulate air' lter.
Regardless of which lter is used for what type of substance, you must keep in mind that ltration,
unlike methods of sterilization, such as radiation or an autoclave, does not kill the microbes, it only
removes them.

Advantages and Disadvantages of Filtration

There are di erent advantages to using ltration as a way to get rid of microorganisms. For
example, it's relatively cost e ective and can stop a lot of di erent microorganisms of a similar size
just with one lter. However, the greatest advantage of using ltration for sterilization is that very
heat sensitive substances, such pharmaceuticals, which are chemicals used to diagnose, cure, or
treat disease, can be sterilized using this method. This is in stark contrast to a sterilization method
like an autoclave, which generates a lot of heat and may end up destroying a heat-sensitive
product, such as a growth hormone.

I think this concept is relatively easy to picture for you. You are a heat-sensitive individual. Yes, you
may like the summer and what not. But, eventually, if the temperature got to be too hot you'd rst
feel uncomfortable, then you'd feel really bad, and eventually the esh would begin to peel o of
your bones as your body breaks down due to the intense heat. Well, many substances, such as
pharmaceutical compounds, would break down in a similar fashion when exposed to high levels of
heat. Hence, ltration would be a much better way of sterilizing these substances.

Nevertheless, ltration is not without its pitfalls. For example, lters with very small pores can
easily clog and thus increase the time it takes to lter a substance out. The slight chance that some
microbes may be able to pass through the pores of the lter if the lter is set-up poorly or its
integrity is tested inappropriately is of greatest concern. That sounds weird, but it shouldn't.
Imagine this: the material being passed through a lter is suspended in a uid. The uid and
whatever is contained within it, such as drug molecules and bacteria, must be pushed through the
lter. Now, if the lter develops a tiny little rip in it during ltration, it may allow bacteria to pass
through.

You can liken this to a person, our bacterium, coming across a dog door. This person shouldn't be
able to pass through the dog door. However, if the human door is cracked around the edges of the
dog door it encompasses, the person may simply be able to push his way through the dog door
and proceed to the other side. The same risk of contamination exists during the ltration of any
substance.

Lesson Summary
Despite its pitfalls, something known as ltration, which is the process of separating out matter
based on chemical or physical properties can be used for heat-sensitive substances, such as
pharmaceuticals, which are chemicals used to diagnose, cure, or treat disease. Filtration uses
lters that have pores. These pores are holes, of varying sizes, found in lters that stop anything
larger than their size from passing through. While these lters are great for heat-sensitive
products, there exists the possibility that a lter may be damaged. This will allow whatever it was
trying to stop, such as bacteria, to pass through it, thereby compromising the sterility of any
substance that was being ltered. That's why proper testing of a lter before and after ltration is
so important.

Learning Outcomes
Upon completion of the lesson, you should be able to:

De ne ltration sterilization

Explain the advantages and disadvantages

What Is Pasteurization? - Definition & Common Uses

This lesson will discuss pasteurization, Louis Pasteur, and mastitis. We'll focus in on how pasteurization works,
what it's used on, and why it's important to your health.

Shopping For Food

One of the things I love to do is shop around for delicious food. The other day, I was standing in the
checkout line at the grocery store and saw that the lady in front of me had bought an interesting
concoction of food. She had a gallon of milk, some cheese, butter, eggs, and honey. It seemed to
me that she was probably going to make some kind of delicious cake with most of those
ingredients.

Pasteurization
What all of the items in the lady's basket had in common wasn't just their impending use in some
kind of dessert, but the fact that all of them had been pasteurized. Pasteurization is the process of
heating, and then rapidly cooling, liquids or food in order to kill microbes that may expedite their
spoilage or cause disease. The French scientist who invented the process of pasteurization was
Louis Pasteur. Unsurprisingly, his last name, Pasteur, is what gives this process, pasteurization, its
name.

In any case, after something is heated during the process of pasteurization, it must be rapidly
cooled thereafter. I'll explain why that is the case in just a second. But, before I do that, you must
realize that pasteurization is not sterilization. Sterilization is when you get rid of all living
microorganisms on an inanimate object. Pasteurization is not sterilization because it doesn't
destroy every single organism in whatever food or liquid is being heated, namely, pasteurization
does not destroy bacterial spores. These spores are basically really hardy forms of bacteria that
must be super-heated to be destroyed. The heating process of pasteurization does not get hot
enough to destroy these spores, but does get hot enough, for long enough, to get rid of disease
causing microbes.

Now, if rapid cooling doesn't occur after heating during pasteurization of something like milk, then
heat-loving bacteria will use the increased temperature to their advantage and multiply like crazy.
However, if we cool down the milk fast enough, we'll slow down the growth of any remaining
microbes just enough so they don't cause us any signi cant harm.
So, in a nutshell, we heat up the milk to get rid of heat sensitive microbes, and then cool it down
really quickly thereafter to make sure that the heat-loving bacteria don't use the warm milk to their
advantage and do not multiply in numbers large enough to cause us any harm. This process of
minimizing the number of microbes in our food not only helps to prevent life-threatening diseases,
but also decreases the number of microbes that would spoil our food, thereby wasting our money
on short-lasting sustenance, such as milk, butter, and so on.

Raw Milk
However, the money-saving bene ts of pasteurization are secondary compared to the lifesaving
bene ts it really imparts. With this in mind, I must touch on the recently popular topic of drinking
raw milk. This is milk that has not been pasteurized. Proponents of drinking raw milk claim that
there's no point to pasteurization, since it doesn't get rid of all microbes anyways, and that
pasteurization also destroys bene cial nutrients. There are two important points to make here with
respect to those claims.

The rst thing you should be aware of is that most of the nutrients in milk that are bene cial to
humans survive pasteurization. Secondly, take it from me, a veterinarian, that you'll be exposing
yourself to some serious harm if you drink unpasteurized milk. The cattle that provide you with this
milk often walk around in their own lth. Their udders hang low to the ground. Because of this, the
teats that are milked may themselves contain very dangerous bacteria that may contaminate the
milk you're going to drink. Furthermore, cattle can get a condition called mastitis, which is the
in ammation of the udder that is caused by an infection; an infection that is sometimes caused by
bacteria that can be lethal to human beings.

Finally, consider the fact that untold numbers of people died from consuming contaminated
products, including milk, prior to the invention of pasteurization. And today, almost 80% of food-
borne outbreaks associated with milk or milk products, such as cheese, occur when raw milk is
used or consumed. These outbreaks have resulted in human fatalities.

Lesson Summary
To avoid these fatalities, pasteurization, the process of heating and then rapidly cooling liquids or
food in order to kill microbes that may expedite their spoilage or cause disease, is used on a lot of
the food we eat or beverages we consume. The French scientist who invented the process of
pasteurization was Louis Pasteur. Unsurprisingly, his last name, Pasteur, is what gives this
process, pasteurization, its name. One of the reasons why pasteurizing raw milk is so important is
because cattle can get a condition called mastitis, which is the in ammation of the udder that is
caused by an infection; an infection that is sometimes caused by bacteria that can be lethal to
human beings.

Learning Outcomes
Students should be able to complete the following tasks after viewing this lesson:

De ne pasteurization

Discuss why pasteurization is used on certain food products

Understanding How Sterilization Is Quantified

This lesson will describe what certain values, such as the D-value, F-value, Z-value, and thermal death time mean
and how to calculate the D-value given certain speci ed criteria.

Quantifying Sterilization
When grilling some of your favorite meats, you're more than likely thinking about the great smell
coming from the grill, as opposed to the nasty bacteria that are being killed o by the heat of the
grill.

However, the fact that you cook your meat in the rst place has more to do with preserving your
health and safety by getting rid of deadly pathogens than it does with your palate.

In a very similar fashion, getting rid of deadly and harmful pathogens, including bacteria, on things
like medical devices is super important during the process of sterilization, which is when we kill o
all living microbes on an inanimate object.

In this lesson, we'll go over just the basic components of how it is that we gure out how long it
takes to kill o a certain number of microbes when we try to sterilize something.

What Is the D-Value?

If you've ever grilled meat before, you surely know that a certain temperature must be reached to
kill o most, if not all, deadly pathogens located in or on your meat. Similarly, in science, we have a
way of guring out how long it would take to actually kill o a certain amount of microbes at a
given cooking temperature, so to speak.

This method involves something known as the D-value, where D-value stands for the decimal
reduction time.

It sounds far more di cult than it actually is.

The D-value is used in microbiology to know how long it would take to kill 90% of microorganisms
in some kind of sample at a very speci c temperature.

Let's use a hypothetical, but real-world, example to further strengthen this point. If, at a given
temperature, an autoclave, which is essentially a machine that uses high temperatures to sterilize
objects contained within it, has a D-value of 3 minutes, then how long would it take to reduce
1,000,000 microorganisms contained within the autoclave down to 10?
Calculating the D-Value
This seems like a really complex question but it's very simple, requiring you to only know 3 - that's
right, only 3 numbers - to nd out the 4th.

We know 3 numbers based on the question that was asked:

Our D-value is 3 minutes, the time it takes to kill 90% of our sample at a certain temperature in our
autoclave. We started with 1,000,000 microbes, and we are left with 10 at the end.

Now, using the following equation we can plug those numbers into it:

D-value equation

The equation reads that:

The D-Value = (Total Heating Time)/(log (Original Population) - log(Remaining Population))

In our case, the equation would be:

3 = (X)/(log(1,000,000) - log(10))

By solving for X, we nd out that the total heating time is 15 minutes. Meaning, with a D-value of 3
minutes, we'd reduce our microbial population from 1,000,000 to 10 in 15 minutes at at the
temperature the autoclave speci es.

There's one thing of utmost importance that you need to know. You MUST keep in mind that the
total heating time has to have the exact same units as the D-value when performing your
calculation. If the D-value is given to you in hours, the total heating time must be in hours. If the D-
value is given to you in minutes, the total heating time must also be in minutes!

Other Values of Sterility

In any case, as I'm sure you know, when grilling di erent types of meats, you need to reach
di erent temperatures for di erent e ects. For example, cooking something rare would mean
lowering the amount of time you cook something or decreasing the temperature at which you cook
it at. If you want something well-done, then you need to increase the temperature. The more you
increase the temperature and the more you increase the time at which you grill your meat, the
more thoroughly you'll cook your meat.

Figuratively speaking, in order to gure out how much you need to adjust the temperature of your
grill in order to increase or decrease the amount of time it takes to kill the microbes within the
meat can be achieved by something known as the Z-value. This is the change in temperature
necessary to change the D-value by a factor of 10. That is to say, if we want to decrease the D-value
from 10 minutes to 1 minute, a factor of 10, then the Z-value tells us what kind of temperature
change would need to occur in order for this to work.

If, however, that's too complicated for you and you're a fan of only using one type of cooking
temperature to kill o all the microbes in your meat when you grill, then you'll like something
known as the F-value. This is the number of minutes necessary to kill a population of microbes at
250*F or 121.1*C. As you can tell, the temperature of the F-value is very speci c.

However, if you like to adjust your cooking temperature for a desired e ect, then you'll enjoy the
thermal death time. This is the amount of time that is necessary to kill all microbes in a certain
sample at a speci c temperature.

The di erence between the F-value and the thermal death time is minimal. The F-value is speci c to
250*F or 121.1*C, whereas the temperature for the thermal death time can be otherwise.

Lesson Summary
So, let's review all of those values one more time.

We rst went over the D-value, which stands for the decimal reduction time.

The D-value is used in microbiology to know how long it would take to kill 90% of microorganisms
in some kind of sample at a very speci c temperature.

Another value we discussed was the Z-value. This is the change in temperature necessary to
change the D-value by a factor of 10. That is to say, if we want to decrease the D-value from 10
minutes to 1 minute, then we would need to increase the temperature in order to do so. The Z-
value tells us what kind of temperature change would need to occur in order for this to work.

Further still, we went over the F-value. This is the number of minutes necessary to kill a population
of microbes at 250*F or 121.1*C.

Finally, the last thing we discussed was the thermal death time. This is the amount of time that is
necessary to kill all microbes in a certain sample at a speci c temperature.

Learning Outcomes
You'll be able to do the following after reviewing this lesson:
Re ect on D-value and identify its equation

Understand what the Z-value shows

Discern the F-value and thermal death time, and reference the di erences between the two
Using Alcohol as a Disinfectant and Antiseptic

This lesson will discuss how alcohol can be used as a disinfectant and antiseptic but not a sterilant. We'll also talk
about what it kills and doesn't kill and why ethyl alcohol and isopropyl alcohol are the two most commonly used
alcohol-based disinfectants.

The Pros and Cons of Alcohol

Alcohol: as one famous man once said, it's the cause of, and solution to, all of life's problems. That
man was none other than Homer Simpson, of course. I can sit here and make an entire lesson out
of quotes and jokes about alcohol. However, in this lesson, I'll try to focus in on the e ects alcohol
has on microbes. Never mind the e ects it has on you, such as headaches, loss of consciousness,
severe liver damage and premature death. Those aren't all that important.

Types of Alcohol
The rst important thing we need to talk about is the di erent types of alcohol available for use.
Now, don't get excited; this doesn't mean we'll be going on a trip to the liquor store any time soon.

We'll be talking about the types of alcohol that are used as a disinfectant or an antiseptic. Those
aren't the same thing, by the way. Disinfection implies the death of most microbes on an inanimate
object, while antisepsis implies the death of most microbes on living tissue, such as your skin.

The di erence is slight but still important. You can liken disinfection to a bacterium passing out on
a oor, which is an inanimate object, while antisepsis implies that a bacterium passes out on a
living friend after having too much from the tap after work.

Anyways, these bacteria and other microbes can drink several di erent types of alcohol, including:

Ethyl alcohol: a type of alcohol commonly known as ethanol or grain alcohol

Isopropyl alcohol: an alcohol that is sometimes referred to as rubbing alcohol

Methyl alcohol: an alcohol that is also called methanol or wood alcohol

Mechanisms of Action
Methyl alcohol is very rarely used compared to rubbing alcohol or ethanol in medicine because it's
quite weak compared to the latter two when it comes down to disinfection and antisepsis. It's like a
light beer compared to whiskey or vodka. Hence, we will just focus in on rubbing alcohol and
ethanol as we move on in this lesson.
The way by which these two alcohols destroy bacteria, viruses and fungi is through something
known as protein denaturation. In basic terms, it's a process whereupon a protein loses its
higher-order structure. You can imagine that a protein is like a piece of metal. That piece of metal
can be formed into many di erent things. For example, it can be made into a paperclip. The shape
of the paperclip is like that metal's higher-order structure. If you were to physically unwrap and
uncoil that paperclip into a straight piece of metal, you would have metaphorically denatured it.

When you uncoil that paper clip, it is still a piece of metal, but it has lost its function. It can no
longer hold paper together. Likewise, when a protein is denatured by an alcohol, it's still a protein,
but it cannot perform the function it once could. Well, if the bacteria, viruses, and fungi cannot rely
on their proteins to do their job, they simply die.

Another way by which alcohol can kill is by damaging the outer membrane of bacterial cell
membrane. It's like damaging your skin. If you lost all of your skin, you would die, since you would
be unable to protect yourself from the dangers of the environment around you. Likewise, if you
damage or dissolve the cell membrane of bacteria, they cannot protect themselves either and end
up dying in the process.

The good thing is that alcohol can kill many viruses, such as the in uenza virus, which causes the u,
or the rhinovirus, which is responsible for the common cold. It can also kill plenty of dangerous
bacteria, such as E. coli, and fungi, such as Cryptococcus neoformans. However, alcohol cannot
destroy bacterial spores, which are very hardy forms of bacteria.

Therefore, because alcohol cannot kill every microorganism on a surface, it is not considered to be
a sterilant. Meaning, we shouldn't be using alcohol on something like a surgical instrument,
because a fatal infection during surgery may occur if a bacterial spore lodges into your body due to
a dirty instrument.

Ideal Concentrations
Leaving that tidbit aside, we can focus in on one last important part of this lesson. I'm almost
certain you know that people who aren't nephalists, meaning people who don't drink alcohol at all,
have a preference for a type of spirit, wine, or beer; some like their drink really strong while others
prefer theirs light and smooth.

If we were to choose a preference for the type of alcohol we'd want to use to kill our microbes, we
would de nitely go with the strong stu .

That's because alcohol, at concentration of between 60% and 90%, is most e ective in its
antimicrobial activity. Anything less than 50%, such as your typical alcoholic drink, is just too dilute
to do the job well. And if the alcohol is over 90%, it cannot enter the cell well enough to denature
proteins inside of the microbe.

Lesson Summary
So, recall that the three main types of alcohol are known as:

Ethyl alcohol: a type of alcohol commonly known as ethanol or grain alcohol

Isopropyl alcohol: an alcohol that is sometimes referred to as rubbing alcohol

Methyl alcohol: an alcohol that is also called methanol or wood alcohol

Methyl alcohol is considered to be too weak to be used as a disinfectant. Hence, we stick to using
the former two instead.

The way that these two alcohols destroy bacteria, viruses and fungi is through something known as
protein denaturation. In basic terms, it's a process whereupon a protein loses its higher-order
structure.

And don't forget that the ideal concentration of alcohol for microbicidal activity is 60-90%.

Learning Outcomes
After nishing the lesson, you should recognize that the three main types of cleansing alcohols
(ethyl, isopropyl and methyl) can be used as disinfectants or antiseptics.
What Are Phenol Disinfectants? - Definition, Advantages & Disadvantages

We will explore a disinfectant known as phenol. We'll cover what its mechanism of action is, what it can and
cannot kill, its advantages and disadvantages and its involvement in enzyme systems.

Gears and Disinfectants

Back in the day, during the great Industrial Revolution, machinery was all the rage. Big, giant steam
engines, production machinery and so forth were the tablets, cell phones and laptops of the day.
They ran businesses, gave people jobs and made tycoons out of industrial pioneers.

However, the things that ran each and every single process always boiled down to a combination of
little gears that turned every which way to make things go smoothly. Each gear was responsible in
one way, shape or form of running a giant machine, which produced some kind of output, be it
steam-driven energy or a product such as a newspaper. We'll see how these gears relate to a type
of well-known disinfectant we're going to talk about in this lesson in just a little bit.

Phenol's Mechanism of Action

The little gears I mentioned are equivalent to a cell's enzymes, which are protein molecules that
are responsible for producing and accelerating chemical changes in a cell or body. If an enzyme
were to be stopped for any reason, then an important chemical reaction wouldn't take place. If an
important reaction cannot take place, then an important process stops. If that important process
stops, then the cell dies.

Imagine if one of the gears in a giant industrial steam engine broke apart. Even if it was a tiny little
gear - a tiny little enzyme - that broken gear will stop the entire machine from functioning properly
if it cannot work. If the steam engine cannot function, it cannot make energy. If it cannot produce
energy, then whatever depends on it, like a steam-powered train, comes to a stop. That's how
important these little gears, or enzymes, are.

A type of antimicrobial agent used as a disinfectant, called a phenol, uses a similar process to kill
o bacteria on inanimate objects through the inactivation of their enzyme systems. This is by no
means the only way by which a phenol works. It can also disrupt the cell wall of a microbe, causing
the lysis, or bursting open of that cell, as well. And in general, phenols poison something known as
the protoplasm, which is basically the entire microbial cell, minus the cell membrane. Basically, it's
the entire orange, minus the orange peel.
The way by which I remember how phenols do their job is as follows. 'Phenol' sounds to me like
'Fee Knoll.' Using our steam train example from before, imagine that you are going to pay a fee to
take a train over a knoll, which is a kind of hill.

As the steam train is going up and up to get over the hill, one of the gears, our enzymes, pops o
from the train's wheels and the train starts to fall backwards, crashes and causes everyone on
board to die. Well, our phenols cause the cells whose enzymes they pop o to crash, burn and die
as well. It's an ugly example. It's crazy, but it may just help you remember how phenols work.

Advantages and Disadvantages of Phenols

In any case, as with every great industrial-era machine, phenols have their advantages and
disadvantages. Nothing is perfect. For example, phenols can get a wide variety of microbes, such as
bacteria, fungi and viruses. However, if the right type of phenolic compound and the right
concentration isn't used, it may not be able to kill o all living organisms, such as certain viruses.

In addition, phenols are not considered to be sporicidal, meaning they do not kill o the hardiest
forms of bacteria - the bacterial endospores. Since the phenols cannot kill every type of microbe,
they are considered to be disinfectants as opposed to sterilants, the latter of which would imply the
death of all microbes on inanimate objects or surfaces as opposed to most microbes in the case of
a disinfectant.

A nal advantage of a phenol is its ease of use. It's not much harder to use than your window-
washing spray. However, the ipside is that phenols can be quite irritating to your skin and in
serious cases have caused depigmentation of the skin. One nal serious implication, or
disadvantage, of phenols is that they have been shown to potentially cause internal organ damage
to children in nurseries that have used phenols as a disinfectant.

Lesson Summary
So, before nishing this lesson o , let's review the important points we covered. We took a look at
a type of antimicrobial agent used as a disinfectant - called a phenol - in this lesson. Phenols
inactivate microbes through numerous means, such as cell lysis and by way of inactivation of their
enzymes.

Enzymes are protein molecules that are responsible for producing and accelerating chemical
changes in a cell or body. If an enzyme were to be stopped for any reason, then an important
chemical reaction wouldn't take place. If an important reaction cannot take place, then an
important process stops.

If that important process stops, then the cell dies. And, in general, phenols poison something
known as the protoplasm, which is basically the entire microbial cell minus the cell membrane. If
that happens, you better believe the cell will die as well.
Learning Outcomes
After the completion of the lesson, you should be able to:

Describe the role of enzymes and what happens when they aren't allowed to do their jobs

Explain how the disinfectant phenol works to kills microbes

List the advantages and disadvantages of using phenol as a disinfectant

Chlorine and Quaternary Ammonium Compounds: Advantages and
Disadvantages

This lesson covers the very common and well-known disinfectants chlorine and quaternary ammonium. We will
talk about their advantages, disadvantages, and uses in addition to the types of microbes they can kill.

Chemical Disinfectants
In other lessons, we described something known as a disinfectant. This is an agent that kills most,
but not all, microbes on an inanimate object, such as a table's surface. We also discussed some
examples of chemical disinfectants, such as alcohols and phenols. However, they aren't the only
types of disinfectants used. We'll cover two more important ones in this lesson.

Disinfection with Chlorine

The rst type of disinfectant we're going to discuss is something I'm positive you have heard of, it's
called chlorine. Chlorine is an element that has been used in everything from liquid disinfectants
to poisonous gases. For our purposes, more technically, the speci c kind of chlorine compound
used in liquid disinfectants is known as sodium hypochlorite, which is found in household bleach.
Chlorine is used at your local pool where you take a swim. That's because water, especially warm
stagnant water at your pool, is a great breeding ground for bacteria, viruses, fungi, and parasites.
Chlorine is a great way to kill all of those if used in the proper concentration.

The great thing about chlorine, or bleach, is it's readily available at your store and is relatively
cheap. It's also pretty darn easy to use and gets a lot of microbes in varying conditions, including
di erent types of water hardness. However, if you've ever been around a serious concentration of
bleach, I'm more than sure you know its disadvantages. It smells terrible, produces noxious gases,
and can burn your eyes and nose. Also, it's quite easily inactivated by organic matter.

I'll explain what that means. Let's say your backyard has a pool surrounded by trees. You have
prepared a bucket full of water and bleach to clean the pool that has been dirtied with soil, leaves,
and so on. There's a little sponge oating on top of your bucket, you've got gloves on, a mask, and
goggles to be safe from the bleach. You proceed to clean your empty pool. However, after you test
it for microbial levels, they are still sky high. You are positive you used the right concentration of
bleach, so it should've gotten rid of a lot of microbes, but it didn't.
The mistake you made was that you didn't pre-clean the pool. All of that dirt in the pool, considered
to be organic matter and debris, stops the bleach from functioning properly. You must essentially
pre-wash and pre-clean whatever it is you're going to clean with bleach prior to actually cleaning it
with your chlorine solution. That way, your chlorine compound can exert its maximal antimicrobial
activity.

The way by which chlorine kills microbes isn't entirely understood yet. We believe there's a wide
range of ways chlorine kills microorganisms, ranging from the inhibition of protein synthesis to
breaking apart the nucleic acids, such as DNA or RNA, of the microorganism itself.

Quaternary Ammonium Compounds

Besides chlorine, another well-known category of disinfectants is known as quaternary
ammonium compounds. These compounds are able to kill many fungi, bacteria, and viruses.
However, they cannot kill o certain viruses and spores, the hardy forms some bacteria have.
Namely, quaternary ammonium compounds can kill o enveloped viruses much better than non-
enveloped viruses.

You can liken a non-enveloped virus to one that has a hardy shell, like a nut, around its nucleic acid
genome. An enveloped virus is surrounded by a thin membrane, kind of like a thin balloon.
Logically, it will be much easier to penetrate and pop a balloon-like exterior than the wood-like
exterior of a nut. Likewise, it's much easier to kill or disinfect a surface against a virus that is
enveloped than non-enveloped.

The way by which quaternary ammonium compounds seem to kill some types of microbes is not
only by destroying their cell membrane, such as the one I just mentioned, but also by destroying or
inactivating important microbial proteins. The proteins these compounds destroys maybe involved
in energy producing processes. You can liken these proteins to little pieces of coal being put into a
coal plant in order to produce energy to power a city. If you destroy the coal, you'll have nothing to
put in the coal plant. This means the city powered by the coal plant will shut down. Similarly, if a
microorganism's proteins are shut down, inactivated, or destroyed, they cannot be used to
produce energy, which will cause the microbe to shut down, or die.

The advantages of quaternary ammonium compounds include the fact that they can kill a wide
variety of microbes and are easy to use. The problem is that, in contrast to chlorine, high water
hardness can a ect their ability to combat microbes, and using material, such as a cotton cloth,
along with these compounds to disinfect an area can also hinder their ability to kill o
microorganisms. In any case, both chlorine and quaternary ammonium compounds are commonly
used to clean areas, such as walls and oors, when their disinfection is necessary.

Lesson Summary
So, in summary, there are many types of disinfectants besides phenols and alcohols. One of those
disinfectants is known as chlorine. Chlorine is an element that has been used in everything from
liquid disinfectants to poisonous gases. For our purposes, more technically, the speci c kind of
chlorine compound used in liquid disinfectants is known as sodium hypochlorite, which is found
in household bleach. Besides chlorine, another well-known category of disinfectants is known as
quaternary ammonium compounds. Keep in mind that chlorine can work equally well in di erent
types of water hardness. This is not the case for quaternary ammonium compounds whose
capability to disinfect su ers with increasing water hardness.

Learning Outcomes
Upon completing this lesson, you may be able to:

Remember the technical term for chlorine

State the advantages and disadvantages of chlorine as a disinfectant

Mention the advantages and disadvantages of quaternary ammonium compounds as a disinfectant

Know how water hardness and enveloped versus non-enveloped viruses a ect quaternary ammonium
compounds
What Are Peroxide Antiseptics? - Definition, Types & Uses

We will discuss chemical substances known as peroxides. You'll learn about hydrogen peroxide and peracetic
acid as well as the way by which they kill microbes and whether or not they are used as a sterilant, disinfectant, or
antiseptic.

Vitamin C Protection for Microbes

Around wintertime, you probably stock up on some vitamin C. The reason is likely because, thanks
to a scientist called Linus Pauling, you believe that taking plenty of vitamin C will somehow prevent
infection or onset of disease.

While that may not necessarily be the case, taking vitamin C does have its bene ts - namely,
vitamin C acts as an antioxidant, which is something that microbes wish they could take as
supplement to combat the killing e ects of the substances we are going to cover in this lesson.

Hydrogen Peroxide
The two substances we're going to talk about in a little bit are both known as peroxides. A
peroxide is a chemical compound that contains two oxygen atoms linked by a covalent bond. A
covalent bond is like a really strong handshake between two atoms - in this case, oxygen atoms,
which link them together.

The most famous peroxide that many have heard of is known as hydrogen peroxide, which is a
chemical than can be used as an antiseptic or a sterilant. This means that it can be used to clean
living tissue such as skin from most living organisms or can be used to kill o all living microbes on
inanimate objects.

Depending on its concentration and mixture with other chemical compounds, hydrogen peroxide
can kill bacteria, viruses, fungi, and even hardy bacterial spores. The way it is able to kill so many
di erent microbes is by generating something known as 'free radicals.' Free radicals are extremely
dangerous particles that react with anything in their path.

I sometimes liken the free radicals to an extremely dangerous little bullet that can destroy any
substance. In reality, one type of bullet may be able to annihilate esh, but not armor, and others
can destroy both, but not boulders, and so forth.

Well, free radicals are like a magic bullet - they can damage everything and anything. This includes
a microbe's cell membrane or nucleic acids, such as DNA or RNA. If these structures are
bombarded with enough free radicals, they will be demolished, which will lead to the death of the
microbe.

This is why these microbes would love to pop a vitamin C pill or drink some orange juice that
contains vitamin C. That's because vitamin C is an antioxidant and is able to essentially absorb free
radicals like a force shield would absorb and stop our magical bullet in order to protect the
structures that make up a microbe.

The great thing about hydrogen peroxide is its versatility. It can be put on a table's surface and
used as a disinfectant, or it can be put on a cotton swab and used as an antiseptic on a wound.

However, this latter point is still controversial and is best avoided unless absolutely necessary, as
the free radicals generated by the hydrogen peroxide aren't picky - meaning they will attack and kill
your own body's cells and may actually not do all that great a job of killing microbes in your wound,
as some research has shown.

In any case, the nal way hydrogen peroxide can be used in certain preparations is as a chemical
sterilant for medical equipment.

Peracetic Acid
With that latest point in mind, another peroxide-based chemical sterilant is known as peracetic
acid, which again is a chemical compound used as a sterilant for medical equipment.

The way by which peracetic acid works is very similar to how hydrogen peroxide kills o microbes.
Because peracetic acid is considered to be a sterilant, something that kills all microbes on an
inanimate object or surface, it should make sense that it can kill bacteria, viruses, fungi, and
bacterial spores when used properly.

One advantage of peracetic acid, as with hydrogen peroxide, is that it can be used on heat-sensitive
equipment because it is considered to be a cold liquid chemical sterilant. Furthermore, peracetic
acid has two advantages over hydrogen peroxide. First of all, it is far deadlier to microbes at lower
concentrations. Secondly, it can remain e ective in the presence of organic substances.

What that latter point means is as follows: if you were to go outside and take a look at the sidewalk,
you'd notice that even though very super cially the sidewalk looks white and relatively clean, it's
actually not. If you kneel down and take a close look at the bumpy surface of the sidewalk, you'd
notice some grey and black specks. Those specs are most likely organic soil. This organic soil can
very easily interfere with the microbicidal activity of hydrogen peroxide.

You can like the soil to a de ection apparatus that de ects our magic bullet in another direction,
away from its microbial target. If the bullet is de ected, it obviously cannot kill the microbe. That's
what the organic soil does.

However, peracetic acid remains e ective even in the presence of the organic soil. You can liken it
to a bullet that isn't able to be de ected; it'll just get to its target no matter what!
Lesson Summary
With that in mind, let's quickly go over the important parts of this lesson.

The two substances we talked about are both known as a peroxide. A peroxide is a chemical
compound that contains two oxygen atoms linked by a covalent bond. The most famous peroxide
that many have heard of is known as hydrogen peroxide, which is a chemical than can be used as
an antiseptic or a sterilant.

The way hydrogen peroxide is able to kill so many di erent microbes is by generating something
known as free radicals. Free radicals are extremely dangerous particles that react with anything in
their path; this includes a microbe's cell membrane or nucleic acids, such as DNA or RNA.

Another peroxide-based chemical sterilant we discussed is known as peracetic acid, which again is
a chemical compound used as a sterilant for medical equipment. It is very similar to hydrogen
peroxide in how it works but is far deadlier to microbes at lower concentrations.

Learning Outcomes
When the lesson is done, you should be able to:

De ne peroxide

Recall hydrogen peroxide's uses as an antiseptic, disinfectant or sterilant

Summarize the drawbacks of using hydrogen peroxide

Recognize peracetic acid as a peroxide sterilant

Explain the advantages of using peracetic acid

What Is Ethylene Oxide? - Uses, Safety & Technology

This lesson will discuss how a type of gas, called ethylene oxide, can sterilize equipment. We'll talk about the way
by which it does this, what its advantages are, as well as the dangers it poses to human health if used improperly.

Uses of Gas
Gas is a state of matter. It can be used for breathing, as in the case of air, or for cooking as we do
with methane. Gas is found in the atmosphere above us and in the ground below us. It's
everywhere. Its uses are many. It can even be used for the purposes of sterilization, or the killing
o of all living microbes on inanimate objects, as you'll discover in this lesson.

However, as with methane gas or even oxygen, it's not without its pitfalls, namely, the ability of this
particular gas to explode if not used properly.

Ethylene Oxide Gas Sterilization

The gas I'm talking about is called ethylene oxide. This is a type of ammable and explosive gas
that is used for the sterilization of medical equipment and devices.

The way by which ethylene oxide kills o microbes is through a reaction known as alkylation. This
is a process whereby a hydrogen atom is replaced by an alkyl group. The details of that are best left
for a chemistry lesson, but I'll explain what that means in the context of something like a bacterium
the gas ends up killing.

Let's pretend our bacterium is a car. The car is made up of many di erent parts that help it move.
These parts include the engine and its wheels. If you replace the smooth, round, rubber wheels
with something like square wooden pegs, the car wouldn't be able to move very well. Similarly, if
you alkylate, or replace, an important component of a bacterium's proteins or genome, it won't be
able to function.

This alkylation takes place in a very special chamber into which ethylene oxide is pumped into.
Following treatment with the ethylene oxide gas, the material being sterilized is aerated out in
order to get rid of any excess gas. This is super important, for if this doesn't occur, some serious
side e ects may occur. These side e ects will be discussed in just a little bit.

The Benefits of Using Ethylene Oxide Gas

There are several advantages to using ethylene oxide gas for sterilization.
First of all, it is a sterilant, meaning it is something that kills every living microbe, including very
di cult to kill bacterial spores, on an inanimate object or surface.

Secondly, it can be used to sterilize equipment that is heat-sensitive. For example, using a machine
called an autoclave to sterilize something like a heat-sensitive plastic would be a very bad idea.
That's because an autoclave is like a really hot sauna. Like a cube of ice, a piece of heat-sensitive
plastic would simply melt in the high temperature the autoclave produces.

Ethylene oxide gas, on the other hand, uses lower temperatures than an autoclave and can
therefore safely sterilize heat-sensitive equipment.

Furthermore, ethylene oxide is better for moisture-sensitive equipment, as well. Again, an

autoclave, which uses moist heat at a high temperature to sterilize things, would ruin moisture
sensitive equipment, but ethylene oxide can be safely used for materials and equipment that are
sensitive to moisture.

Imagine putting a piece of paper into a wet, hot autoclave. It would wrinkle and sag. Well, if you
want to avoid ruining moisture-sensitive equipment, using ethylene oxide gas would be a far wiser
choice than using an autoclave.

The Dangers of Using Ethylene Oxide Gas

While using this gas for moisture or heat-sensitive equipment would be safe for that equipment, it
wouldn't necessarily be safe for humans. There are several reasons for this.

First of all, if ethylene oxide gas is improperly used, it can catch re or explode. While that re or
explosion would probably kill all living microbes, it would also destroy any equipment it was trying
to sterilize and would kill you as well. What use is broken, sterilized equipment, let alone when
there's no one left to use it?

In addition, if you expose yourself to too much of this gas, you can su er a wide range of problems,
ranging from vision loss and neurological disabilities to abortion and cancer.

Finally, if your health isn't important to you and you're the type to be more concerned about
money instead, then you should keep in mind that ethylene oxide is a relatively expensive and
lengthy way to sterilize equipment.

Lesson Summary
Nonetheless, do recall that ethylene oxide, a type of ammable and explosive gas that is used for
the sterilization of medical equipment and devices, is an excellent sterilant, meaning it is
something that can kill every living microbe, including very di cult to kill bacterial spores, on an
inanimate object or surface.

The way by which ethylene oxide kills o microbes is through a reaction known as alkylation. This
is a process whereby a hydrogen atom is replaced by an alkyl group.
While this gas is great for the sterilization of temperature and moisture-sensitive equipment, it can
cause all sorts of side e ects, ranging from vision loss to cancer, if used improperly.

Learning Outcomes
After watching this lesson, you will be able to:

Describe ethylene oxide's ability to sterilize equipment

Compare ethylene oxide sterilization with autoclave sterilization

Explain the advantages and disadvantages of using ethylene oxide as a sterilant

De ne alkylation
Chlorhexidine, Iodine & Silver: Uses and Modes of Action

This lesson will discuss four commonly heard of chemical antiseptics: namely, iodine and iodophors, silver nitrate,
silver sulfadiazine, and chlorhexidine, and it will cover the ways by which they kill microbes.

Wound Care with Antiseptics

For a very long time, people have put all sorts of stu on cuts, scrapes, and burns to help them heal
more quickly. I'm sure you've done this as well when you fell o a bike as a little kid. Everything
from alcohol to hydrogen peroxide may have been used, and all of these compounds are known as
antiseptics, meaning they are used on living tissue, such as your skin, to try and get rid of as many
microbes as possible. Antiseptics can never get rid of all microbes on living tissue, but they try to do
their best.

In this lesson, we'll cover a few more compounds used as antiseptics, some of which I'm sure
you've heard of.

Iodine and Iodophors

Besides alcohol and hydrogen peroxide, another type of substance sometimes used to clean
wounds that you have probably heard of is called iodine. Iodine is a chemical element used in
nutrition, medical diagnostic techniques, and antiseptic wound care, among other things.

Our body doesn't make iodine, so we must obtain it from other sources, such as iodine-forti ed
salt. If we don't get enough iodine, we can develop many conditions, such as goiter, which is
essentially an enlarged thyroid gland.

But iodine doesn't need to be ingested with salt in order to exert its bene cial e ects. In certain
preparations, which can be deadly if ingested in large enough amounts, iodine is used as an
antiseptic for wound care. These preparations are sometimes known as a tincture of iodine.

The way by which iodine kills is through the inactivation of protein synthesis and disruption of
protein and nucleic acid structure in a microbe.

You can liken the proteins a microbe uses to the little apps on your smartphone and the nucleic
acids to the processor of your phone - called the I-odine. If you stop the app makers from making
their apps and delete the apps altogether from your phone, or you kill o the processor, then you'll
have no use for your smartphone. Likewise, if you destroy the nucleic acids of a microbe or stop
them from using and producing their proteins, the microbe will simply die o .
Iodine should not be confused with an iodophor, which is a compound that combines iodine with
another compound, such as povidone, to be used as antiseptic or disinfectant. Using an iodophor is
usually preferable to iodine alone, as an iodophor allows for the sustained release of iodine, which
minimizes the potentially toxic e ects of iodine.

Silver Compounds
Another type of antimicrobial agent that may be a bit dangerous to use has been in use in one
shape or form for hundreds of years. This agent is called silver. That's right, the same stu pirates
used to ght over is actually used in some preparations as an antimicrobial.

Notably, one preparation is known as silver nitrate. This is a compound that is sometimes used to
prevent gonorrheal eye infections in newborns. Ironically, this compound can actually cause more
harm than good, as it can damage the eye and, therefore, antibiotics may be used in its stead.

Besides silver nitrate, another well-known, silver-based compound is known as silver sulfadiazine,
and it's a topical cream made from a combination of silver and sulfadiazine, a type of antibiotic that
is used as an antibacterial agent.

Depending on the preparation it's used in, silver is able to exert its antimicrobial e ects by
interfering with protein and enzyme function as well as by disrupting the microbe's nucleic acid
genome. This is very similar to what iodine does as well. Once again, we basically delete the apps
and shut down the processor in our smartphone when we use silver as an antimicrobial agent.

Chlorhexidine
Finally, another type of chemical antiseptic that is used is known as chlorhexidine. It is a chemical
antiseptic that is commonly used in handwashing products due to its ability to kill bacteria, some
fungi, and certain viruses.

As you can tell by that de nition, chlorhexidine isn't a sterilant, meaning it can't kill everything. For
example, it isn't e ective against hardy bacterial spores or non-enveloped viruses.

The way by which chlorhexidine manages to destroy certain bacteria, viruses, and fungi is actually
pretty darn cool. It destroys these microbes by one of two ways.

At low concentrations, it damages the outer and inner membranes of the microbe, which causes
the leakage of important substances out of the cell. At high concentrations, it coagulates the
cytosol, or the liquid, found inside of the cell. This coagulation inactivates important functions in the
cell, resulting in its death.

We can use some real-life examples to demonstrate how chlorhexidine works. At low
concentration, it basically pops the cell like a balloon by creating holes in it.
At higher concentrations, you can imagine our microbe's cytosol as a bowl of animal fat. At high
temperatures this fat is liquid. However, if you were to put it in a fridge, it would solidify. Anything
that was once moving around in the fat, such as important enzymes involved in energy production,
would no longer be able to move around and function properly. That's how chlorhexidine
inactivates a microbe at high concentrations.

Lesson Summary
While not every antiseptic we went over in this lesson kills microbes in such an interesting manner,
it's still important to at least review them by name one more time.

One of the chemical agents we went over is known as iodine. Iodine is a chemical element used in
nutrition, medical diagnostic techniques, and antiseptic wound care, among other things.

Iodine should not be confused with an iodophor, which is a compound that combines iodine with
another compound, such as povidone, to be used as antiseptic or disinfectant. Using an iodophor is
usually preferable to iodine alone, as an iodophor allows for the sustained release of iodine, which
minimizes the potentially toxic e ects of iodine.

Another chemical antiseptic we went over is known as silver nitrate. This is a compound that is
sometimes used to prevent gonorrheal eye infections in newborns.

Silver nitrate isn't the only silver-based antiseptic out there. In fact, silver sulfadiazine, a topical
cream made from a combination of silver and sulfadiazine, a type of antibiotic that is used as an
antibacterial agent, is commonly used as well.

Finally, another type of chemical antiseptic that is also commonly used is known as chlorhexidine.
It is a chemical antiseptic that is commonly used in handwashing products due to its ability to kill
bacteria, some fungi, and certain viruses.

Learning Outcomes
Once you have nished the lesson, you should be familiar with the following antiseptics: iodine,
iodophors, silver nitrate, silver sulfadiazine, and chlorhexidine, and you should be able to explain
how these antiseptics kill microbes.