Bioequivalent chemical steam sterilization indicators.

Biological indicators used to monitor steam sterilization cycles have two major shortcomings--the incubation period needed to determine if sterilization was accomplished, and the reliance on test packs for gathering information in each load. Chemical indicators do not suffer from these shortcomings. Chemical indicators can respond to time, temperature, and steam parameters to thus parallel the BI reaction. Nine commercially available chemical indicators and four biological indicators were evaluated under the conditions of dry heat, in a biological indicator-evaluator resistometer vessel, and in a hospital sterilizer. The results indicate that wider use of integrated chemical steam sterilization indicators is recommended.