EBME Forums Forums Free discussion Free discussion Cleaning Wipes and plastic damage

Hi All,

Over the years, I've frequently encountered issues with plastic damage on medical devices caused by cleaning solutions.

I believe the primary culprit is Quaternary Ammonium compounds (Quats) as the active agent. Some of our equipment specifically advises against using wipes containing Quats.

In my current role, we use Quat wipes exclusively for hard surfaces and chair cleaning. For medical equipment, we use a potassium peroxymonosulfate solution (which doesn't seem to damage plastics but requires manual mixing with tablets and water), 1000ppm chlorine solutions (mainly for blood contamination, as some Trusts mandate this for regular cleaning), peracetic acid-based wipes (which can cause discoloration), and low alcohol wipes (which appear safe on plastics but can cause hazing on some clear plastics).

In the past, where we used Quat wipes or solutions, the plastics on machines would degrade over time, some components took longer, while others reacted quickly, leading to unnecessary call-outs and a perception of unreliability for certain equipment models. Since discontinuing the use of Quat wipes in the clinics they were used on these sites, we've observed a significant reduction in plastic damage.

My questions are:

1. Do other Companies/Trusts experience high plastic damage with Quat wipes?
2. Have you found any non-Quat wipes that are effective against Hep B/C, HIV, etc., and are safe for plastics?
3. If you have found good alternatives, did you encounter difficulties getting them approved through IPC?

I appreciate any responses!

I've intentionally avoided mentioning any brand names.

Andy

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.

Hi Darren,

What is the protective spray you use please?
Have you seen any significant reduction in plastic damage since implementing the use of this?

Many thanks!

PC1 (Protective Coating) from Resysten. We have seen a huge impact in bio-burden for a starter, according to the University of Ulster, its the most active protective coating they have seen in 20 years - for a year we have seen a 98% reduction in medical equipment surface pathogens.

As for the reduction in plastic damage, absolutely, we are due to report positive findings, however this is no surprise, the post application durability tests results are impressive & comprehensive. Chemical Resistance (that takes care of ESC, plastic failures) but additionally, anti-corrosion, anti-abration, coating efficacy & temperature impact.


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