What are surgical instrument enzyme detergents cleaners ?

ONEStep™ Surgical Instrument Cleaning Products

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Enzyme functions defined.

What specific functions do surgical instrument cleaning enzymes perform?

What enzymes are needed for removing bioburden from surgical instruments?

What is optimal cleaning temperature for surgical instrument cleaning enzymes?

How long do surgical instrument cleaning enzymes last?

What are surgical instrument cleaning enzymes?

Is there a health risk to employees using surgical instrument cleaning enzymes?

How can the health risk avoided when using surgical instrument cleaning enzymes?

Surgical instrument cleaning enzyme detergents are proteins produced by all living organisms that act as catalysts to speed up chemical reactions that would otherwise occur at a much slower rate or not at all. Would the reader understand catalyst? Perhaps a simple explanation "Catalysts are materials that help reactions move from a beginning to an end. Catalysts are not used up in the reaction so they are available to help multiple reactions."Enzymes fit their target substrates like a lock fits a key.The active site of the enzyme is open only to specific target substances (i.e., substrates) with a matching chemical and 3-dimensional shape. If the substrate doesn't fit, it can't enter and no reaction occurs. This makes the action of surgical instrument cleaning enzymes highly specific for their substrates.

Surgical instrument cleaning enzyme detergents go a long way and can be reused!

Like other types of catalysts, an enzyme can complete its chemical reaction without being used up or destroyed, leaving the enzyme protein available for yet another reaction. This means that one enzyme protein molecule can act on many substrate molecules. Eventually, all the substrate is gone and the enzyme stops working.

Surgical instrument cleaning enzyme detergents will eventually break down on their own.

Why is this important in a detergent? The enzymes used in surgical instrument cleaning enzyme detergents act on materials that make up a variety of stains and soils so that these materials can be washed away more easily. These enzymes are named after the materials they can act upon, for example, proteases break down protein based stains, lipolases break down lipid (fat) based stains and amylases break down starches and other carbohydrate based stains (amyl is Greek for starch). Since one enzyme molecule can act on many substrate (i.e., soil) molecules, a small amount of enzyme added to a laundry detergent can provide a big cleaning benefit to the consumer.

Are surgical instrument cleaning enzyme detergents safe?

Enzymes are proteins, therefore, they are completely biodegradable. They are non-toxic to plants and animals in the environment. They are harmless if accidentally ingested by a child. However, like many other proteins, enzymes can cause respiratory allergy in some people if they are breathed in at very high concentrations, frequently, and for long periods of time. This doesn't pose a safety issue for consumers who use laundry detergents. However, this can represent a health issue for people that work in enzyme making facilities and in detergent production facilities, especially if enzymes are not handled properly.

What's a surgical instrument cleaning enzyme detergent respiratory allergy?

Respiratory allergy is a response our bodies can have when we are exposed to proteins such as house dust mites, cat and dog dander, pollens, molds. Not everyone will develop respiratory allergy to the variety of proteins we are exposed to on a daily basis. As mentioned above, surgical instrument cleaning enzymes are proteins. Frequent inhalation of surgical instrument cleaning enzymes at high concentrations over a long period of time can lead to respiratory allergy among some people. This can occur among people that have to work with surgical instrument cleaning enzymes and when the enzymes are not handled properly.

Surgical instrument cleaning enzyme detergents in the workplace.

When surgical instrument cleaning enzymes were first introduced into detergent products in the 1960s, they were dusty powders. The detergent products were very dusty and it was easy for the surgical instrument cleaning enzymes to become airborne. At that time there were very few controls to limit the amount of detergent powder that could become airborne during the making and packing of detergents. As a result, many employees were exposed to very high levels of airborne enzyme and some of them developed respiratory allergies.

Steps to avoid the health risk to employees by reducing the amount of airborne surgical instrument cleaning enzymes in the workplace.

Minimize creating surgical instrument cleaning enzyme aerosols.

Use surgical instrument cleaning enzymes in a liquid or foam state to avoid creating aerosols.

When surgical instrument cleaning enzymes are used with ultrasonic cleaning always keep the tank lid closed.

Perform the receiving and handling of surgical instrument cleaning enzyme products closed containers.

Always have the surgical instrument cleaning enzyme product MSDS available at the point of use.

Provide ventilation to avoid excessive exposure to potential surgical instrument cleaning enzyme aerosols.

References:

The following are selected enzyme references:

Flindt, M. L. H. 1969. Pulmonary disease due to inhalation of derivatives of Bacillus subtilis containing proteolytic enzyme. Lancet, 1:1177-81.

Pepys J., J. L., Longbottom, F. E. Hargreave and J. Faux. 1969. Allergic reactions of the lungs to enzymes from Bacillus subtilis. Lancet, 1:1181-4.

Newhouse M. L., B. Tagg, S. J. Pocock, A. C. McEwan. 1970. An epidemiological study of workers producing enzyme washing powders. Lancet, 1:689-693.

Juniper, C. P., M. J. How, B. F. J. Goodwin and A. K. Kinshott. 1977. Bacillus subtilis enzymes: a 7-year clinical, epidemiological and immunological study of an industrial allergen. J. Soc. Occup. Med., 27:3-12.

Flood D. F. S., R. E. Blofeld, C. F. Bruce, J. I. Hewitt, C. P. Juniper and D. M. Roberts. 1985. Lung function, atopy, specific hypersensitivity, and smoking of workers in the enzyme detergent industry over 11 years. Br J Ind Med.,42:43-50.

Schweigert, MK, MacKenzie, DP and Sarlo, K. 2000. Occupational asthma and allergy associated with the use of enzymes in the detergent industry - a review of the epidemiology, toxicology and methods of prevention. Clinical and Experimental Allergy, 30: 1511-1518.

Sarlo, K and Kirchner, DB. 2002. Occupational asthma and allergy in the detergent industry: new developments. Current Opinion in Allergy and Clinical Immunology, 2:97-101.

Sarlo, K. 2003. Control of occupational asthma and allergy in the detergent industry. Annals Allergy, Asthma and Immunology, 90(suppl):32-34.

In addition, a complete literature review on enzymes was recently completed by the European Union:

Aberer, W., M. Hahn, M. Klade, U. Seebacher, A. Spök, K. Wallner and H. Witzani. 2002. Final report:

Collection of information on enzymes, European Commission Contract No. B4-3040/2000/27845/MAR/E2