Gluteraldehyde

ESC 495

Glutaraldehyde

Glutaraldehyde is an oily, colorless liquid chemical with a strong, pungent smell. It is an organic compound with the formula CH2(CH2CHO)2.Glutaraldehyde has several applications; it is used as a cold sterilant in the health care industry, primarily to disinfect medical equipment, as well as dental equipment. Glutaraldehyde is used as a biocide
(meaning it can deter harmful organisms) in metalworking fluids and in oil and gas pipelines. Glutaraldehyde can also be used in several other ways, such as a slimicide in paper manufacturing, a disinfectant in animal housing, a hardening agent during X-ray development, a preservative in cosmetics, a tissue fixative in histology and pathology labs, an antimicrobial in water treatment systems, a cross-linking and tanning agent, as well as in embalming solutions, various clinical applications. Glutaraldehyde is also used in the preparation of grafts and bioprosthesis.

Glutaraldehyde is very often used in the health care industry to disinfect equipment that cannot be heat sterilized. Glutaraldehyde is used to disinfect equipment such as bronchoscopes, endoscopes, dialysis instruments, surgical instruments, suction bottles and various instruments pertaining to the throat, ear and the nose. Glutaraldehyde is mostly used in a diluted form with solutions ranging 0.1 percent to 50 percent glutaraldehyde/water. Workers can be exposed to glutaraldehyde through inhalation or skin contact. Exposure to glutaraldehyde may result in health effects such as nasal irritation, throat and lung irritation, asthma and difficulty breathing, sneezing and wheezing, contact dermatitis, allergic dermatitis as well as burning eyes and conjunctivitis.

In 1999 a 2 year inhalation study in rats and mice was published. Entire-body inhalation toxicology and carcinogenicity studies were performed with glutaraldehyde. During the course of the study, groups of 50 male and female (F344/N) rats and (B6C3F1) mice were exposed to glutaraldehyde. The rats and mice were each exposed to 4 different concentration levels. The rats were exposed to concentration levels of 0 PPB, 250 PPB.
500PPB, or 750 PPB. The mice were exposed to concentration levels of 0 PPB, 62.5
PPB, 125 PPB, and 250 PPB for a duration of 6 hours per day, 5 days per week, for 104 weeks. The survival rate of female rats exposed to 500 PPB or 750 PPB was less than that of the controls. The mean body weights of all “exposed” groups of male rats, female rats exposed to 500 PPB or 750 PPB, and female mice exposed to 250 PPB were generally less than the mean body weight of the controls. There were no exposure related neoplastic lesions observed in either rats or mice. There were non-neoplastic lesions limited primarily to the most anterior region of the nasal cavity. In the rats, hyperplasia and inflammation of the squamous epithelium; goblet cell hyperplasia, inflammation and squamous metaplasia of the respiratory epithelium; also hyaline degeneration of the olfactory epithelium were observed. The nasal lesions of the mice were qualitatively similar to the nasal lesions of the rats that were exposed. Squamous metaplasia of the respiratory epithelium was observed in both sexes of mice whereas female mice also had inflammation and hyaline degeneration of the respiratory epithelium. No neoplastic lesions were observed after inhalation exposure of glutaraldehyde. However, exposure to glutaraldehyde resulted in many non-neoplastic lesions in the noses of the rats and mice.