Microbial Growth Control

You know a lot about microbial growth control yet you may not know it. Microbiologists use words like sterilization (the complete distruction of all microbes), sanitization (the reduction of microbes to public safety standards), and antisepsis (the removal of microbes from skin for surgical purposes). One of the best methods of sterilization is the use of ethylene oxide gas. Ethylene oxide is used for the sterilization of surgical products as well as other laboratory items. Glutaraldehyde is another chemical used often in hospitals due to the fact that it is less harmless than fermaldehyde and it is very effective at killing microbes. Autoclaving is one of the most effect methods of killing spore forming bacteria such as Bacillus anthracis (anthrax). In order to kill anthrax, the autoclave must increase the temperature to 121 degrees celsius while raising the atmospheric pressure. NAMSA, Sanyo, and BD all provide products used in sterilization.