Previous generations of piston provers utilized mercury, a known hazardous fluid, as a low friction seal to allow zero gas leakage past the piston. These piston provers were designed in a time when mercury was considered less dangerous. Many healthcare and manufacturing facilities have removed mercury containing products as well as introduced non-mercury containing alternatives. Companies are moving away from mercury containing products because of the concern for worker safety. Regulation frameworks are in place to continue to remove hazardous materials, including mercury, from products and facilities.
One example is RoHS requirements from the EU will require medical devices and monitoring control equipment shipped after July 2014 to not contain mercury, http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=OJ:L:2011:174:0088:0110:en:PDF.
Another example is that the US has legislated an export ban on mercury beginning in January 2012, http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/PLAW-110publ414/pdf/PLAW-110publ414.pdf. Mercury is considered a hazardous material by the US EPA, http://www.epa.gov/mercury/, and is regulated by the Toxic Substance Control Act, Clean Air Act as well as the Clean Water Act.
Bios DryCal® gas flow calibrators do not contain mercury. In addition Bios DryCal units can provide the same and in some cases better accuracy and reliability than the mercury containing piston provers Bios DryCal units replace.
To find out more about Bios DryCal mercury free technology, visit our Bios page at www.mesalabs.com
Today is World Metrology Day, a celebration of the first convention of 17 nations in 1875 to promote the uniformity of measurement worldwide. In both our personal and professional lives we all measure something every day–but beyond minutes, milliliters and miles, how much do you really know about different measurement systems? Take our fun quiz to find out!
World Metrology Day Quiz
Mesa Labs will be giving away a Defender gas flow calibration standard at the 2013 AIHce conference held in Montreal, Canada, at the Palais des congres de Montreal on May 18-23. Mesa will be located at booth number 809. We will have iPads set up so attendees can quickly register themselves to win this state of the art calibration meter backed by DryCal® technology. Don’t forget to grab your ticket while at the booth once you register, the drawing will be held at the closing of the show.
AIHce in on its 74th year of providing quality educational sessions along with innovative presentations and it is known to be a wonderful networking event. It is also considered the most important event of the year among EH&S professionals. Mesa is proud to be a part of this event and looks forward to giving away one of its Defender units while at the show.
We hope to see you there! For more info on the show AIHce click here: http://aihce2013.org/
A customer recently contacted us detailing how positive biological indicators (BIs) were popping up in their Vapor Hydrogen Peroxide (VHP) process. The customer explained that they had no trouble with a square shaped room but when the configuration of the room changed (to an L-shaped room for example), they would experience unexpected positives. The positive BIs always seemed to occur in the same general area.
So what is wrong with the BIs?
Since the positive discs are showing up in the same general area of the room, it is most likely that the user may have a problem with the delivery of the lethal gas to some areas of the room. In this instance, the BI is doing exactly what it was designed to do, identifying the area of the chamber/room that is not receiving an appropriate dose of sterilant.
Mesa’s Technical Support team explained that the BIs are indicating that the circulation is not sufficient in this area in order to achieve the sterilization levels that the user is trying to accomplish. As is often the case for VHP sterilization, fans are needed in order to help the sterilant circulate throughout the more difficult areas to reach.
The BI Support team also pointed to the following documents from Mesa that have helped this user in redefining their procedures:
addresses Parameters Effecting Vapor Hydrogen Peroxide BI Performance
http://www.mesalabs.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/Spore-News-Vol-9-No3.pdf
addresses Proper BI Placement During VHP BI Performance, and
http://www.mesalabs.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/Spore-News-Vol-9-No5.pdf
addresses Using Replicate BI’s
http://www.mesalabs.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/Spore-News-Vol-9-No4.pdf
For more information on VHP sterilization and BIs, please send any inquiries to bi-support@mesalabs.com.
Richard Parsons, a volunteer for WORTH and a full-time Davita employee, traveled to Belize this last February to train local people in the country to administer dialysis to patients and run the equipment needed. By doing this the units are able to develop and eventually become self-sustaining. They will never turn a patient away because they are unable to pay for the treatment.
Richard carried with him 2 90DX meters and some NIST-traceable solutions for calibration use, items proudly donated by Mesa Labs. Mesa couldn’t be more pleased to be able to partner with such a worthwhile cause and people like Richard who are constantly working to help improve the lives of those in need of dialysis.
The non-profit World Organization of Renal Therapies (WORTH) was founded by Dr. Wayne Trebbin and opened their first dialysis unit in 2006 in Yaounde, the capital city of the sub-Saharan African country of Cameroon. Since 2006, WORTH has opened 2 more dialysis units in the Latin American country of Belize and a second unit in Cameroon. Their mission is to deliver state of the art dialysis to their patients in developing third world countries and to do so without causing financial stress.
Follow their blog at: http://worthdialysis.blogspot.com/
To donate to WORTH or to find out more information click here!
Mesa is preparing to exhibit at the Interphex expo, a top pharmaceutical and biopharmaceutical trade show held each year. Many key people in this industry attend to see new products, meet new customers, and to network with fellow community members. There are over 1000 product lines that represent every product category at the show and 650+ supplies that come to feature their latest innovations.
This year it will be held again at the Javits Center in New York, New York. The show exhibits will be open Tuesday April 23, 2013 through Thursday April 25, 2013. There are also 52 conference sessions that can be attended in 3 days.
While there, Mesa will be highlighting 2 new products: Intenna and Thermowell. DataTrace® InTenna is attached to the vessel by using a standard clamp fitting and sealed inside the vessel through any common service outlet. This enhanced capability means that retort cook cycles will always be able to hit their mark using the real-time feedback of the wireless data. DataTrace® Thermowell Data Logger allows for the addition/removal of the logger without breaking the seal! This logger is ideal for monitoring temperatures in a sealed container such as a can or bottle or for an SIP or CIP system at the typical monitor points where the Thermowell can be welded directly into piping allowing the logger to be easily removed and replaced when desired without shutting down the process. (more…)
The time spent developing a validation series for a retort or an autoclave, trying to get just the right cycle time, vacuum dwell, or steam injection, can be expensive and nail-bitingly tense. For retorts it’s the grueling cycles that may prove to be wasted labor due to an insufficient dwell time.
A typical problem that occurs in the sterilization and cooking industry is the expense of time and labor involved in performing a process that ends with an unsuccessful kill of the target organism or incomplete cooking. This can occur for a variety of reason such as incorrect calculations, miscommunications, or thermocouple sensor failures or malfunctions. This can lead to wasted product and labor, repair costs, re-performing cycles or validations. When forced to make decisions about the cycle without the proper, up-to-date information necessary, the costs go up and they add up quick.
Last week, we announced the launch of our new Smart-Well® 1710 incubator as part of our Smart-Read EZTest® Biological Monitoring System. In this video, we show you how to configure and use the new Smart-Well Incubator using the easy-to-use touch screen interface. (more…)
In this video, Torqo International Channel Manager Greg Wilson demonstrates how to run a simple cap removal test using the Torqo Model 1600 computerized cap torque analyzer. For more on the Torqo computerized cap torque analyzer, click here.
When selecting a biological indicator (BI), there are a lot of things to consider, but the three most important considerations are below:
1. What Type of Sterilization Is It?
Sterilization processes vary from chemicals to extreme temperatures to plasma infused chambers. These processes are all detrimental to the survival of biological materials but the selection of what particular biological indicator to use for each individual process is of extreme importance.
Biological indicators are made up of bacterial spores presented on or within some form of carrier which can vary depending on the specific application. The spores themselves have been selected for a particular process due to their inherent resistance. Geobacillus stearothermophilus is the ideal species to select for Steam and H202, Bacillus atrophaeus is appropriate for monitoring Ethylene Oxide and Dry Heat sterilization and Bacillus pumilus spores have shown specific resistance to gamma irradiation sterilization processes.
2. What Product Is Being Sterilized?
A cold, 2 Liter flask of water would take much longer to reach sterilization temperatures than a 100 ml flask of water in a steam sterilizer. Similarly, the products that are introduced to the sterilization cycle can have a dramatic effect on the sterilizer’s ability to effectively deliver lethal insult. Is the product a solid or a liquid? If solid, it is porous? What is the position within the pack/product that will be the most difficult spot to achieve sterilization conditions? All of this information is useful when discussing proper BI placement and selection. (more…)
