Autoclave

• The device is a Class II medical device that is a surgical lighting device to provide illumination of an electrocautery pencil during surgery.
• This left chlorine dioxide as the clear sterilization approach due to the materials and inclusion of an embedded battery within the device.
• ClorDiSys' method of chlorine dioxide gas generation was developed by Johnson and Johnson and produces a non-acidic gas that is gentle on materials.
• ClorDiSys developed its technology through Johnson and Johnson, and chlorine dioxide gas has been providing true sterilization of medical devices for over 25 years.

• Andersen Sterilizers and its sister company, contract sterilization specialist Andersen Scientific, were awarded the very first master file in the FDA's 510(k) Ethylene Oxide (EO) Sterility Change Master File Pilot Program.
• View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230808827853/en/
  Andersen Sterilizers has won 18 FDA clearances on its tabletop sterilizers and accessories since 2015.
• Andersen Sterilizers designs and manufactures innovative tabletop and refrigerator-sized EO gas sterilizers for the manufacturing, research, medical and veterinary markets.
• Andersen Scientific is quite possibly the most environmentally friendly ethylene oxide contract sterilization facility in the world.

• Increased demand for ethylene glycol in the manufacture of plastic packaging is another factor promoting market expansion.
• Because of this, polyester fibres are increasingly being used as a cushioning material in pillows, comforters, and upholstery padding, which is driving the market for ethylene glycol.
• The launch of bio-based versions is just one of the many product innovations that are having a beneficial influence on the market expansion.
• Based on region the global ethylene glycols market is segmented into North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, Latin America, and the Middle East and Africa.

• Spain for instance saw temperatures in April (38.8°C) that would be out of the ordinary even at the peak of summer.
• South and south-east Asia in particular were hammered by a very persistent heatwave, and all-time record temperatures were experienced in countries such as Vietnam and Thailand (44°C and 45°C respectively).
• And in China, Shanghai just recorded its highest May temperature for over a century at 36.7°C.

Weather and physiology

• The recent heatwave in south-east Asia may well be remembered for its level of heat-induced stress on the body.
• Heat stress is mostly caused by temperature, but other weather-related factors such as humidity, radiation and wind are also important.
• Our bodies gain heat from the air around us, from the sun, or from our own internal processes such as digestion and exercise.

The limit of heat stress

• Underlying health conditions and other personal circumstances can lead to some people being more vulnerable to heat stress.
• Yet heat stress can reach a limit above which all humans, even those who are not obviously vulnerable to heat risk – that is, people who are fit, healthy and well acclimatised – simply cannot survive even at a moderate level of exertion.
• One way to assess heat stress is the so-called Wet Bulb Globe Temperature.
• Two of us (Eunice and Dann) were part of a team who recently used climate data to map heat stress around the world.

Variability and acclimatisation

• Yet London has a higher record temperature (40°C vs 37°C in Singapore).
• Given that regions such as south-east Asia consistently have high heat stress already, perhaps that suggests that people will be well acclimatised to deal with heat.
• Given that it is not unreasonable, even in the absence of climate change, that natural weather variability can produce significant heatwaves that break local records by several degrees Celsius, even nearing a physiological limit might be a very risky line to tread.
• Every Wednesday, The Conversation’s environment editor writes Imagine, a short email that goes a little deeper into just one climate issue.