Introduction: Disinfection and sterilization are important biosafety measures used in health environments. The means routinely used to reduce the microbiota in these environments are chemical deferments, autoclave and ozone. It is important to highlight that many of the utensils used by health professionals are no sensitive, leaving the autoclave unfeasible in the sterilization process.

Objective: To collect preliminary results about the efficacy of the ozone bag, as a sterilizing and disinfectant agent, comparing its effect with traditional autoclaving.

Methodology: An in vitro experimental analytical study was carried out using an ozone generator and autoclave. Three volunteers were selected, without restriction of gender and age, who contained oily skin and who reported not having done skin antisepsis until 2 hours before material collection. The materials used were 18 curettes and 18 Petri dishes, divided into 3 groups: a) Control, where no sterilization process was used; (b) Autoclave, carried out at a temperature of 121ºC for 30 minutes; and c) Ozone bag, which employed concentrations of 30μg/ml e 60μg/mland exposure times ranging from 5 to 30 minutes. The microbial agent extracted from the skin of the volunteers were mostly the Staphylococcus aureus.

Results: We found that ozone bags, normally used for the treatment of various aesthetic dysfunctions and skin healing, especially in cases of diabetic ulcerations, have the ability to sterilize in a similar way to autoclave, when used with a concentration of 30μg/mlfor 30 minutes.

Conclusion: The ozone bag can also be used to sterilize health utensils in the presence of Staphylococcus aureus, provided that the materials are exposed to the gas with the concentration and exposure time suggested in this study.

Giovanna Vidal