As a saturated straight-chain aliphatic dibasic aldehyde, glutaraldehyde is a colorless transparent liquid with irritating odor and excellent killing effect on reproductive bacteria, viruses, mycobacteria, pathogenic mold and bacterial bacterium, and non-oxidizing broad-spectrum bactericide. Glutaraldehyde is a highly effective disinfectant that kills a variety of microorganisms and is recommended by the World Health Organization as a disinfectant for hepatitis virus contaminants.
Glutaraldehyde 25% has stimulating and curing effects on human skin and mucous membranes and may cause allergies, so it should not be used for disinfection of air and food utensils. In addition, glutaraldehyde should not be used for disinfection and sterilization of tubular medical equipment, injection needles, surgical sutures and cotton threads.
Glutaraldehyde is commonly used as a disinfectant in the medical industry and users may have questions related to technical issues, so Springchem here offers major points about glutaraldehyde for your reference.
Application of glutaraldehyde
Glutaraldehyde is used as a cold sterilant to disinfect heat-sensitive instruments, such as endoscopes and dialysis equipment. It is used as a high-level disinfectant for those surgical instruments that cannot be heat sterilized.
Glutaraldehyde is used for several applications in healthcare facilities:
● A tissue fixative in pathology labs
● Disinfectant and sterilization of surfaces and equipment
● A hardening agent used to develop X-rays
● For the preparation of grafts
Expiration date of glutaraldehyde and how to determine the expiration
At room temperature and under the condition of being away from light and sealed storage, the expiration date of glutaraldehyde should not be less than 2 years, and the active ingredient content of glutaraldehyde should be at least 2.0% within the expiration date.
At room temperature, after adding rust inhibitor and pH adjuster, glutaraldehyde is used for medical device immersion disinfection or sterilization, and can be used for 14 continuous days. The glutaraldehyde content should be at least 1.8% during use.
Immersion disinfection method with glutaraldehyde
Soak the cleaned instruments in 2.0%~2.5% glutaraldehyde disinfection solution to submerge them completely, then cover the disinfection container at room temperature for 60 min, and rinse with sterile water before use.
The cleaned and dried diagnosis and treatment instruments, apparatus and articles are put into 2% alkaline glutaraldehyde solution completely submerged, and the air bubbles on the surface of the instruments should be removed with the container covered at the temperature of 20~25℃. The disinfection works until the specified time of the product instructions.
Requirements for disinfection of endoscopes with glutaraldehyde
1. High level disinfection and sterilization parameters
● Concentration: ≥2% (alkaline)
● Time: bronchoscopy disinfection immersion time ≥ 20min; other endoscopes disinfection ≥ 10min; endoscopic immersion for patients with mycobacterium tuberculosis, other mycobacteria and other special infections ≥ 45min; sterilization ≥ 10h
2. Use method
● Endoscope cleaning and disinfection machine
● Manual operation: disinfectant should be filled with each pipe and soaked to disinfect
3. Precautions
Glutaraldehyde 25% is allergenic and irritating to skin, eyes and breath, and can cause dermatitis, conjunctivitis, nasal inflammation and occupational asthma, so it should be used in endoscope cleaning and disinfection machine.
Precautions with glutaraldehyde
Glutaraldehyde is irritating to the skin and mucous membranes and toxic to humans, and glutaraldehyde solution can cause serious damage to the eyes. Therefore, it should be prepared and used in a well-ventilated place, personal protection should be prepared well, such as wearing protective masks, protective gloves and protective glasses. If inadvertently contacted, it should be flushed immediately and continuously with water, and early medical attention should be sought if the eyes are injured.
It should be used in a well-ventilated place, and if necessary, the place should have exhaust equipment. If the concentration of glutaraldehyde in the air at the place of use is too high, it is recommended to be equipped with self-contained breathing apparatus (positive pressure protective mask). The containers used for soaking instruments must be clean, covered and disinfected before use.
Monitoring frequency of glutaraldehyde concentration
The effective concentration of glutaraldehyde can be monitored with chemical test strips.
In the process of continuous use, daily monitoring should be strengthened to grasp its concentration changes, and it should not be used once its concentration is found below the required concentration.
It should be ensured that the concentration of glutaraldehyde in use meets the requirements of the product manual.
Should glutaraldehyde be activated before use?
The aqueous solution of glutaraldehyde is acidic and usually cannot kill budding spores in the acidic state. It is only when the solution is “activated” by alkalinity to the pH value of 7.5-8.5 that it can kill the spores. Once activated, these solutions have a shelf life of at least 14 days. At alkaline pH levels, glutaraldehyde molecules tend to polymerize. The polymerization of glutaraldehyde results in the closure of the active site aldehyde group of its glutaraldehyde molecule responsible for killing budding spores, and thus the bactericidal effect is reduced.
Factors affecting the sterilization of glutaraldehyde
1. Concentration and action time
The bactericidal effect will be enhanced with the increase of concentration and the extension of the action time. However, glutaraldehyde solution with a mass fraction of less than 2% cannot achieve a reliable bactericidal effect on bacterial spores, no matter how to extend the bactericidal time. Therefore, it is necessary to use glutaraldehyde solution with mass fraction greater than 2% to kill bacterial spores.
2. Solution acidity and alkalinity
The bactericidal effect of acid glutaraldehyde is significantly lower than that of alkaline glutaraldehyde, but the difference will decrease gradually with increasing temperature. In the range of pH 4.0-9.0, the bactericidal effect increases with increasing pH; the strongest bactericidal effect is observed at pH 7.5-8.5; at pH >9, glutaraldehyde rapidly polymerizes and the bactericidal effect is rapidly lost.
3. Temperature
It also has a bactericidal effect at lower temperatures. The bactericidal effect of glutaraldehyde increases with temperature, and its temperature coefficient (Q10) is 1.5 to 4.0 at 20-60℃.
4. Organic matter
Organic matter makes the bactericidal effect weaker, but the effect of organic matter on the bactericidal effect of glutaraldehyde is smaller than that of other disinfectants. 20% calf serum and 1% whole blood have basically no effect on the bactericidal effect of 2% glutaraldehyde.
5. Synergistic effect of nonionic surfactants and other physicochemical factors
Polyoxyethylene fatty alcohol ether is a nonionic surfactant, and the stability and bactericidal effect are significantly improved by adding 0.25% polyoxyethylene fatty alcohol ether to glutaraldehyde solution formulated with enhanced acid-base glutaraldehyde. Ultrasound, far infrared rays and glutaraldehyde have a synergistic sterilization effect.
Springchem, a China top 10 glutaraldehyde manufacturer, provides glutaraldehyde 25% and 50% for industrial, laboratory, agricultural, medical, and some household purposes, primarily for disinfecting and sterilization of surfaces and equipment. For any further information, just contact us.
Post time: Aug-16-2022