Submitted by Natolx t3_10yxpkv in askscience
GyozaGangsta t1_j83fbcm wrote
Reply to comment by RebelWithoutAClue in Can the Radiation from a Sample of Depleted Uranium Sterilize? by Natolx
In healthcare in America, we have a goal of sterility assurance to 10^-6 log reduction per AAMI standards but most IFU’s for devices set by manufacturers go for even tighter, some devices go beyond the 10^-9 but the trade off is damage to the device due to long exposure.
Part of the reason healthcare is so expensive is processing sterile instruments and replacing them fairly regularly, (a big push for single use disposable items is happening as a result but is also wasteful and expensive, but saves time on reprocessing)
Lastly a fun fact about steam sterilization, if you could fit the entire planet in a saturated steam sterilizer and ran it at 273 Fahrenheit for like 15 minute it would theoretically kill every thing on Earth. Nothing would survive. (Or it would be like .0000000000000001 survival)
turgidNtremulous t1_j85d5kh wrote
Your imaginary planet-scale autoclave would not come close to killing everything on earth. It would just turn it into a planet full of extremophiles!
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