Decontamination processes are used in a wide variety of circumstances, often in medical and healthcare settings. Similar procedures are used within surgery, dentistry and veterinary processes and can also be compared to radiation decontamination during food preparation.
Using Decontamination to Sterilize
Contaminants are removed with water and other cleaning solutions to remove surface dirt from medical devices and instruments. In other circumstances, vaporization which separates dirt from vapor can be collected as liquid and then disposed of through a decontamination process.
At the lowest level, instruments that are washed with pressurized water are providing a low-level decontamination before full sterilization takes place.
In other circumstances, steam can be used to clean and therefore, decontaminate instruments.
Sterilization and chemical detoxification are used to decontaminate a variety of instruments and devices, depending upon their original materials.
Uses of Sterilization
Where radiation is used to sterilize medical instruments, there must be radiation decontamination to ensure that the finished product is free of any radiation, ensuring that radiation cannot be passed on to humans or animals.
Radiation is designed to kill any pests or bacteria that may exist around medical instruments. Radiation decontamination is essential to complete the entire process.
Other sterilization methods include dry heat, gas, steam and chemical disinfection. These are all methods of decontaminating the surface and any hidden areas of medical instruments and devices.
As you would expect, anyone involved with radiation must be entirely knowledgeable about the subject and the processes. Therefore, many medical and healthcare facilities hire contract sterilization organizations to complete the sterilization process, followed by the radiation decontamination. This is not a process that is straightforward to manage without the necessary experience, testing facilities and recorded success, of organizations that are determined to operate better than the standards required by the US government and the FDA.
