Stainless steel large-scale sterilizer is one of the core equipments in animal laboratories, which is mainly used for sterilization, disinfection and harmless treatment to ensure the biosafety of laboratory animal rearing environment, experimental instruments and waste.

Its application involves a number of key aspects such as SPF grade animal room, infectious experiments, sterilization of surgical instruments, cage disinfection and so on. The following are its core applications and precautions:

Main application scenarios

1. Sterilization of laboratory and surgical instruments

Applicable objects: scalpels, forceps, scissors, syringes and other metal instruments, glassware (such as petri dishes, test tubes).

Sterilization method: autoclave (121°C/15min or 134°C/5min).

2. Sterilization of animal cages, bedding and drinking water

Cage sterilization: IVC (individually ventilated cages), plastic/stainless steel cages need to be sterilized regularly (especially in SPF class animal rooms).

Sterilization of bedding: Bedding such as wood shavings, corn cobs, etc. are prone to carry microorganisms and need to be treated at high temperature and pressure (121°C/30min).

Sterilization of drinking water bottles: to prevent microbial contamination (e.g. Pseudomonas aeruginosa), which can affect the health of immunodeficient animals.

3. Feed sterilization

Normal feed: 121°C/20min sterilization, but may destroy some nutrients (need to choose high temperature resistant formulations), some experiments require feed or drinking water sterile (such as immunodeficiency animal models), the sterilizer can eliminate microbial contamination through moist heat sterilization.

4. Harmless disposal of infectious waste and animal carcasses

Biosafety requirements:

ABSL-2 Laboratory: infectious waste needs to be sterilized at 121°C/60min before disposal.

ABSL-3 laboratory: double casement sterilizer (through the wall) is required to ensure the isolation of the contaminated area from the clean area.

Disposal of animal carcasses: incineration or recycling by a professional organization is required after sterilization. Infected animal carcasses or contaminated wastes need to be sterilized and then disposed of in compliance with biosafety regulations (e.g., “General Requirements for Laboratory Biosafety”).

Incoming items of the barrier system

SPF Animal Room: All items entering the barrier (cages, feed, lab supplies) must be sterilized.

Transfer window docking: some sterilizers can integrate transfer windows to realize the direct transfer of sterile items into the clean area.

The application of stainless steel large-scale sterilizers in animal laboratories covers a number of key aspects such as sterilization of instruments, disinfection of cages, feed treatment and harmlessness of infectious waste. Correct selection (e.g. pre-vacuum or double-casement sterilizers), standardized operation (reasonable loading, program selection) and regular maintenance (scale cleaning, biomonitoring) are the core elements to ensure sterilization effectiveness and laboratory biosafety. In high-standard environments such as SPF animal rooms and ABSL-2/3 laboratories, sterilizer compliance and stability directly affect the reliability of experimental data and personnel safety.