INDICATOR FOR DETECTING ETHYLENE OXIDE

摘要

The problem of inaccuracy in known techniques of detecting ethylene oxide in practice are overcome by an indicator which comprises a substrate (1) impregnated with a solution of 4-(4-nitrobenzyl)pyridine and an envelope (2) completely enclosing said impregnated substrate (1), at least a part of which envelope (2) is transparent to enable observation of the colour of the substrate (1) and which envelope (2) has low permeability to gaseous ethylene oxide. With this indicator, the amount of ethylene oxide remaining in, for example, medical instruments after their sterilisation with ethylene oxide may be estimated by the naked eye since the colour of the indicator changes step by step with the release of residual ethylene oxide.