[Disinfection and sterilization of thermolabile instruments with gaseous formaldehyde]

For several years formaldehyde-gas-underpressure procedures are increasingly used for disinfection and sterilization of medical thermolabile instruments. In many places, however, uncertainty and sceptism, if these methods are sufficient in the medical field, are existing. This is understandable, since no generally test instructions are available. The principal suitability of gaseous formaldehyde for disinfection and sterilization, however, had been demonstrated by several investigators. Precondition for reliable efficacy during routine use is an apparatus which is equipped with feed-back techniques and which guarantees the bactericidal and fungicidal activity required for medical use. Decontamination procedures on the basis of gaseous formaldehyde under normal conditions of temperature and pressure must be regarded as unsafe. St. faecalis and the spores of B. stearothermophilus showed the highest formaldehyde resistance within the group of common biological testorganisms. In order to test the efficacy of corresponding procedures testorganisms have to be placed into testdevices with small lumina. The penetration of these devices to formaldehyde and vapour should be similar to that of the longest instruments with the smallest lumina, which are intended to be decontaminated by the testprocedure.