1 Andy, with regards to medical devices, this is a real problem but only recently being identified or understood. A recent study showed that 25% of plastic part failures industry wide are related to (ESC). Environmental stress cracking.
It is a phenomenon in which a plastic is cracked by a chemical agent while under low level stress, and it is the leading cause of plastic component failure.Because of the required cleaning & disinfection regimes in health, the problem is of ESC is far more widespread and significant
2 Test findings Findings July 2024
All 2-in-1 wet wipes tested contained ESC agents, although the severity of ESC varied. Products with higher pH (>8.0) were responsible for 74% of failures, with 22 of the 39 tested plastics visibly cracking. Although the primary active in all tested wipe formulations were quaternary ammonium compounds, formulations that included small/medium amines or alcohol demonstrated a greater propensity for plastic cracking. The trouble is, High, medium and low level disinfectants can ALL cause damage to plastics and other medical device materials
Conclusion
The truth is that each disinfectant formulation exhibits a unique spectrum of microbial efficacy and unique potential to cause surface damage. This may result in device failures and recalls that could compromise patient and staff safety. BS EN ISO-22088-3 can support material compatibility assessments of disinfectant and detergent products before they come to market.
3 IPC need to be on side and informed of your strategy, the best way to achieve this is to let IPC use their cleaning disinfection media of choice.
Materials science provides the answer.
We now protect our medical device, materials, surfaces & components with a maintenance spray which prevents the damage sustained by medical devices from toxic & harsh cleaning & disinfection media.
Last edited by Alf; 27/02/25 11:10 PM.
