§ Baroness Masham of Iltonasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether irradiation can be helpful in decontaminating surgical instruments in cases in which there may be a risk of the transmission of vCJD and other blood-borne viruses. [HL1035]
§ Lord Hunt of Kings HeathSterilization by ionizing radiation is an industrial process and is particularly suited to the sterilization of large batches of similar products. Irradiation can cause serious physical deterioration of materials, particularly those subjected to a previous sterilization process. Advice received from the Microbiological Advisory Committee is that, because of issues around the validation of the process and the routine monitoring required for small batches of product, as well as the effect of radiation on the materials concerned, irradiation is not suited to health service use.