Respiratory equipment used at home can be disinfected in several ways, depending on the heat resistance of the material.
Material
Disinfectant
Minimum Duration
heat resistant
boil in water
5 minutes
standard cycle dishwasher
30 minutes at > 70°C (> 158°F)
microwave oven at 2.45 GHz
not heat resistant
immersion in 1:50 dilution of 5.25-6.15% sodium hypochlorite (household bleach)
3 minutes
immersion in 70-90% ethyl alcohol
immersion in 70-90% isopropyl alcohol
immersion in 3% hydrogen peroxide
30 minutes
where:
• It is important to clean and dry the equipment before disinfecting.
• Bleach can corrode metals, so needs to be rinse off completely.
• Chlorine products loose activity with storage.
• For heat resistant items, heating in a dry oven can also be used to disinfect.
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Specialty: Infectious Diseases
