CHAPTER XII. 

 STERILIZATION AND DISINFECTION IN THE PHARMACY. 



It is only within very recent years that sterilization in the pharmacy 

 has received any serious attention. Certain pharmacopeias, notably those 

 of Austria and Beligum, give specific directions regarding the sterilization 

 of certain medicamenta, particularly those intended for hypodermic use. 

 The German, English, Italian, Swiss and other pharmacopeias give direc- 

 tions regarding certain sterilizing processes which may be applied to a few 

 articles. Fischer, Stich, Deniges, Mario, Schoofs and other European 

 investigators have given the subject much attention and have perfected 

 many of the details of procedure. 



Some of the non-official methods of sterilization are of very doubtful 

 practicability. Particularly the methods recommended for the sterilization 

 of pharmaceutical solutions by means of the ultra-violet rays and by means 

 of chemical disinfectants. Lesure sums up the use of the ultra-violet rays 

 as follows: "A series of experiments shows that, at present, the ultra-violet 

 rays can scarcely be regarded as a practical means of sterilizing pharmaceu- 

 tical solutions, such as hypodermic injections. It is not yet possible to 

 sterilize liquids in small closed glass vessels, since the glass absorbs the rays 

 of shortest wave length, which are precisely those of most active sterilizing 

 power. Possibly on a large scale solutions could be sterilized in bulk and 

 then filled, in vacuo, into sterilized small receivers. The rays might be 

 useful for substances which are decomposed by treatment in the autoclave. 

 Some substances are, however, so readily decomposed by ultra-violet rays, 

 that their solutions can never be sterilized therewith. Such are solutions 

 of quinine salts, of mercuric iodide, of atoxyl, of eserine, of apomorphine 

 and some glucosides, as for example gentiopicrin. Opaque solutions and 

 suspensions of solids cannot be thus sterilized. The permeability of the 

 different solutions to the rays also varies very greatly. Apart from the 

 question of decomposition, it is found that, in the case of gentiopicrin, 

 completely sterile solutions were not obtained even after an exposure of 

 half an hour; on the other hand ancubin solutions were completely sterilized 

 in thirty seconds." The decomposition changes due to the ultra-violet rays 

 are not clearly understood. The indications are that there are no very 

 marked chemical changes in such substances as cocaine and pilocarpin 

 hydrochloride after three hours' exposure. Arbutin shows a change in a few 



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