Advantages and Disadvantages of Ethylene Oxide Sterilization

1. Advantages

Excellent sterilization effect: Ethylene oxide has strong bactericidal capabilities, effectively killing various microorganisms including bacterial spores, fungi, and viruses, ensuring thorough sterilization with reliable results.

Strong penetration: It can penetrate microholes, gaps, packaging materials, etc., reaching deep into the interior of objects for sterilization. This offers unique advantages for items that are difficult to sterilize using other methods.

Scalable production: Ethylene oxide sterilization equipment can achieve automated control, enabling large-scale continuous production to meet industrial manufacturing needs.

2 disadvantages

Toxicity and Hazard: Ethylene oxide is highly flammable and explosive, and it has certain toxicity that poses potential risks to human health and the environment. If leakage occurs during production, storage, or use, it may lead to fire and explosion incidents. Inhalation or contact with ethylene oxide gas or liquid can irritate and damage the respiratory system, eyes, and skin. Long-term exposure may also result in serious consequences such as genetic mutations and cancer.

Long sterilization cycle: The entire sterilization process includes several stages such as pre-treatment, loading, sterilization, and venting, which takes a considerable amount of time, usually ranging from several hours to several days. This can impact production efficiency and turnover speed.

Remaining issues: Despite undergoing analysis, certain amounts of ethylene oxide may still remain on the surface and inside the items, necessitating strict detection and control of residual levels to ensure compliance with safety standards. Residual ethylene oxide can pose risks to human health and may also affect product quality and performance.

High equipment and operating costs: Ethylene oxide sterilization equipment is expensive and requires professional operators and safety protection facilities. Additionally, purchasing, storing, using ethylene oxide gas, and maintaining and monitoring the equipment all involve significant cost investments.