Autoclavable Bags
What are autoclavable bags?
For researchers working in laboratories, a large part of the potential threat comes from infectious waste, and reducing the impact of waste on people and the environment has become a focal point of concern for society. When it comes to sterilization, many people think of autoclaves, but know less about autoclave bags, not knowing that the significance of autoclave bags is also very significant. It is an essential “consumable” for laboratory sterilization.
Autoclavable bags, as a kind of sterilisation bags, are completely different from ordinary garbage bags in life, as well as medical waste bags and bio-waste collection bags. These autoclavable bags can be sterilized for 15-20 minutes without melting under the steam temperature of 121°C and high pressure of 101.3 kPa. Any items that are resistant to heat and humidity, such as common culture media, saline, clothes, gauze, and glass equipment can be autoclaved in bags.
Autoclavable bags are generally made of PE and a few PP, but this does not mean that as long as the bags are made of PE and PP, they can withstand autoclaving without melting. If the sides of the autoclavable bag are folded, it is beneficial to bear heavier biological waste. Autoclavable bags come in both large and small sizes. In general, the larger the sterilization container, the larger the corresponding bag needed. A large autoclavable bag can be 110 cm wide * 150 cm high.
Autoclavable pouches are widely used in industries and fields such as biological products, blood centers, disease control centers, inspection and quarantine bureaus, animal research institutes, animal health centers, life science colleges, etc.
Working principle of autoclavable bags
In a closed steamer, the steam cannot escape and the pressure rises continuously, which raises the boiling point of water and thus the temperature inside the pot. At a pressure of 0.1MPa (101.33kPa), the temperature inside the pot reaches 121℃. At this steam temperature, various bacteria and their highly heat-resistant budding spores can be quickly killed.
What is autoclave sterilization?
The mechanism of high-pressure sterilization is to package the food materials in a certain way after being placed in a high-pressure (200MPa or more) device under pressure, so that the morphological structure of microorganisms, biochemical reactions, genetic mechanisms and cell wall membrane changes in many ways. This will affect the original physiological activities of microorganisms, and even make the original function of destruction or irreversible changes to death, so as to achieve the purpose of sterilization.
The principles of high-pressure sterilization can be summarized in the following five points.
A. Changing cell morphology
Normally, a very high hydrostatic pressure affects cell morphology, including elongation of cell shape, detachment of cell wall from the cytoplasmic membrane, and thickening of cell wall without membrane structure. These phenomena are reversible at a certain pressure, but when the pressure exceeds a certain point, the cell morphology undergoes irreversible changes.
B. Influence on cellular biochemical reactions
According to the basic principles of chemical reactions, pressurization favors reactions in the direction of decreasing volume and is detrimental to chemical reactions that increase volume. Since many biochemical reactions produce volume changes, pressurization will have an effect on biochemical processes.
C. Affecting the activity of intracellular enzymes
The high pressure causes the inactivation of major enzyme systems. In general, the denaturation of proteins at pressures above 300 MPa is irreversible.
Several fundamental mechanisms of high-pressure inactivation of enzymes are as follows.
a. Alteration of the internal structure of the molecule.
b. Changes in conformation at the active site. By affecting the enzymes in the microorganism, this in turn has an impact on the microbial genetic machinery, mainly in the form of disruption of DNA replication and transcription steps involving the enzymes due to high pressure.
D. Effect of high pressure on cell membranes
Under high pressure, the cross-section of phospholipid molecules in the cell membrane is reduced, and the volume of the cell membrane bilayer structure is consequently reduced, and the permeability of the cell membrane is altered.
E. Effect of high pressure on the cell wall
The pressure of 20-40 MPa can loosen the cell wall of larger cells due to mechanical fracture by stress, and the cell wall is destroyed under the pressure of 200 MPa. Eukaryotic microorganisms are generally more sensitive to pressure than prokaryotic microorganisms.
Use of autoclavable bags
In the various aspects of biosafety management, the disposal of infectious waste is a key aspect of controlling laboratory biosafety. How to reduce the impact of waste on the environment has become an issue of great concern to governments, environmental protection, and related researchers.
According to the regulations, biological laboratory wastes are required to undergo strict harmless treatment. At present, the most common and effective way of treatment in laboratories is autoclaving (or pulsating vacuum sterilization), which means that the temperature of 121°C or 132°C and the time of 20-30 minutes can achieve the desired sterilization effect.
In the process of harmless disposal, it is usually necessary to use autoclave bags to hold biological waste before putting it into the sterilizer. ANTITECK autoclave bags are made of different materials and special processes, and can be used for moist heat sterilization at various temperatures, with easy access and eye-catching colors for easy identification. They are used to hold discarded petri dishes, culture bottles, tubes, pipettes, pipettes, positive samples and other laboratory instruments and consumables after biological experiments, and are sterilized and discarded, greatly reducing potential biohazards
However, in the process of use, in order to avoid melting or bursting of autoclavable bags in the sterilizer and resulting in the leakage of sample liquid in the waste to the bottom of the pot or causing secondary contamination or difficulty to clean, so the following points should be noted.
a. Choose a high-quality sterilizer to avoid melting the sterilization bags due to high actual temperature.
b. The sample to be sterilized should not be filled too full, otherwise the pressure inside and outside the bag is too high during the sterilization process and the sterilization bag is prone to bursting.
c. Sharp objects should take appropriate measures or choose suitable series of sterilization bags to avoid puncturing the bags and leakage, which will contaminate the inside of the sterilizer.
d. It is forbidden to put acid and alkali positive samples inside the sterilization bag to avoid corrosion of the sterilization bag which may lead to bag rupture.
e. Autoclave bags should not be in direct contact with the interior of the sterilizer. To avoid secondary contamination caused by leakage, sterilization bags with waste should be placed in the standard sterilization bucket of the sterilizer (or purchase a special autoclave bucket) for easy storage to avoid accidental leakage of biological waste and evaporation of biological sample liquid in the pot at high temperature.
f. For the sterilization of reusable laboratory instruments, the choice of autoclave bags is recommended to choose transparent or translucent colors.
g. When using autoclave bags with sterilization instructions, the product should not exceed the expiration date.
h. It is forbidden to put the sterilized bags into the dry heat sterilization oven or hot air sterilizer.
i. After sterilization, the bags should be tightened and put into special garbage cans or recycled by waste disposal companies for further treatment.
j. Storage environment for autoclavable bags: Do not expose to sunlight, store in a cool, dry and ventilated place.
Precaution of autoclavable bags
As we all know, almost all items in the laboratory should be sterilized before use, and the procedures should be strictly followed after use. The autoclave we are familiar with plays the role of sterilization in this, but not everything is put directly in the sterilizer, like we heat dishes and hot meals in the microwave oven. The role of autoclave bags is to wrap these contaminants, isolate them from the outside air, and keep the waste from directly contacting the sterilizer. The unique design of the material allows the autoclave bag not to melt under high temperature and pressure. They can be placed in a wide range of sterilization products, from Petri dishes, culture bottles, to washing heads, pipettes, etc. They can be placed inside for autoclaving. However, we know that nothing is absolute, there can be no absolute safety and danger, and the same is true for autoclavable bags, which cannot be disregarded because melting and bursting will not occur. If improperly handled, there is still the possibility of breakage and bursting.
a. Choose the brand carefully. There are many small brands of autoclave bags, which are not well labeled for the temperature they can withstand, causing melting in the sterilizer and causing secondary contamination.
b. It is also easy to cause bursting if it is filled too full.
c. The sterilization bag cannot be completely closed. If steam is not accessible, not only is sterilization incomplete, but there is an increased risk of bursting.
d. Exclusive use of bags. Sterilization bags should not be placed in direct contact with the bottom of the sterilization pot, but in the sterilization bucket.
e. Acids and bases should not be put into the sterilization bag
f. For sharp items, measures should be taken to avoid puncturing the bag to cause secondary contamination.
How to buy autoclavable bags?
If you are interested in our Autoclavable Bags or have any questions, please write an e-mail to info@antiteck.com, we will reply to you as soon as possible.