Paraformaldehyde powder, depolymerized by heat, produced formaldehyde gas that was effective in sterilizing laboratory rooms, a mobile laboratory trailer, various surfaces, fiberglass filter medium, and specialized laboratory equipment. A sporulating and nonsporulating strain of bacteria, a virus, and a bacterial toxin were used as test agents. The dissemination procedures and equipment, the assay techniques, and the facilities and equipment sterilized were described.
A semiportable oil or gas-fired incinerator was designed, fabricated and
installed for use at a primate research laboratory. The incinerator was challenged with
Bacillus subtilis var. niger spores to determine minimum operating temperatures to prevent
the release of spores to the atmosphere when contained in either solid or liquid refuse.
The theoretical spore challenge concentration when mixed with the incinerator combustion
air for the solid refuse was 3 x 10^7 spores/ft^3 (8.4 x 10^5 spores/m^3), and 7.2 x 10^2 spores/
ft3 (20 spores/m^3) for the liquid refuse. To prevent the release of viable microorganisms
to atmosphere the maintained sterilization temperatures for this incinerator were determined
to be 760 °C (1,400°F) in the primary chamber and 871 °C (1,600 °F) in the secondary
chamber.
Data are presented which show the potential for release of viable microorganisms into the atmosphere from high-vacuum steam sterilizers during the evacuation cycle preceding application of steam under pressure. Bacillus subtilis var. niger spores, Serratia marcescens cells, and Ti coliphage disseminated into the sterilizer chamber as small particles from liquid suspensions, and dried spores of B. subtilis var. niger distributed on bulk discard materials were recovered from the atmosphere around pipes venting steam from the steam ejectors used to create chamber vacuum. Evaluation of the hazard involved is discussed, and the design, fabrication, and installation of a valved filter system for preventing release of viable microorganisms are presented. The filtration system utilized an F-700 water-resistant filter and was shown to eliminate the release of viable airborne microorganisms from a high-vacuum sterilizer. A method is presented for determining size requirements for an atmospheric vent filter in relation to the volume of a sterilizer.
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