Chapter 12-13 terminology check:
Aerosol – droplets released into the air
Antiseptic – agents applied to living tissue
Autoclave – increases temperature and pressure in order to clean. Temp goes up to 121 C. This raise in
temp is high enough to kill spores, and vegetative arganisms as well as disrupt the structure of nucleis
acids in viruses.
Bactericidal- killing
Bacteriostatic- growth inhibiting
Cavitation- formation of a partial vacuum in a liquid
decimal reduction time (DRT or D value) – the length of time needed to kill 90% of the organism in a
given population at a specified temp.
Disinfectant- agents applied to inanimate objects
Disinfection –reducing the number of pathogenic organisms on objects, or in materials so they pose no
threat of disese.
Paper filter method- uses small filter paper disks each soaked with a different chemical agent placed on
an agar plate that has been inoculated with a test organism.
Filtration- is the passage of material through a filtration device, sterilization through filtration requires a
filter with exceedingly small pores.
Lyophilization – is the drying of material from the frozen state
Pasteurization- a process invented by Pasteur to destroy organisms that caused wine to sour. Does not
achieve sterility but does kill pathogens especially mycobacterium and salmonella.
Phenol coefficient- (page 241) since Lister introduced phenol (carbolic acid) in 1867, it has been the
standard disinfectant to which other disinfectants are compared to under the same conditions.
Plasmolysis- loss of water, interferes with cell function.
quaternary ammonium compounds (quats page 345)- cationic detergents, which have four organic
groups attatched to a nitrogen atom. A variety of quats are available as disinfectants their chemical
structure vary according to their organic groups.
Rad- a unit of radiation energy absorbed per gram of tissue
Sonication-the disruption of cells by sounds waves
