Dear Specialists,

Do you have any information about the possibility to plasma sterilize laboratory waste and other items possibly infected with BSE (mad cow disease)?

Thank you very much for your kind attention.

Dr. Serban Nicolescu
Product Manager
AMS 2000 Trading Impex s.r.l.
Bucharest, Romania

Dear,

The UK "Advisory Committee on Dangerous Pathogens: Transmissible Spongiloform Encephalopathy Agents: Safe working and the Prevention of Infection" says in annex-b: Cleaning, decontamination and waste disposal e.g.
"The effectiveness of other processes and agents such as gas plasma have yet to be fully evaluated" and further "All material classified as clinical waste should be disposed of by incineration at an authorised incineration site."
(see: www.archive.official-documents.co.uk/document/doh/spongifm/annex-b.htm).

Tests of the effect of gas plasma on prions are now taking place. The results will soon be published.

I think gas plasma can never be used for the sterilization of waste (contaminated with prions) because:

• the load must be dry and may not absorb (e.g. linen, paper, cotton, cellulose)
• no cleaning = no sterilization
• the sterilant has to come into contact with all surfaces to be sterilized
• hydrogen peroxide is incompatible with organic matter and ineffective against TSE agents
• this method is too expensive for this application
• etc.

Kind regards,
Wim Renders

PS:
you can find more information on:

• www.who.int/emc-documents/tse/whocdscsraph2003c.html and
• http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/diseases/cjd/cjd.htm