James Rickloff
Nitrogen dioxide (NO2) gas can be used for most sterilization and decontamination applications, including sterilizing medical devices and decontaminating glove boxes and isolators. For medical device sterilization, the exposure cycle may include a vacuum phase to facilitate gas penetration. However, for the decontamination of isolators used in aseptic manufacturing, the process is completed without the use of a vacuum phase. There are specific advantages to using NO2, which include gas stability and rapid aeration. These aeration time reductions provide improvements in productivity by reducing equipment down time. This presentation will provide an overview on the NO2 technology and describe study results that demonstrate the feasibility of decontaminating isolators using NO2 gas.