Radiation Sterilization to Combat the COVID-19 Epidemic
Radiation is an important means for disinfecting and sterilizing medical and healthcare products and drugs, such as single-use medical devices, medical latex gloves, sanitary materials, pharmaceutical packaging materials, and traditional Chinese medicine.
With the outbreak of the COVID-19 epidemic in early 2020, the demand for medical protective equipment surged, and single-use protective clothing was in short supply. Under the auspices of the China Atomic Energy Authority, the Specifications for Radiation Sterilization of Single-use Protective Clothing for Medical Use during Emergency (Provisional) was prepared by the China Isotope and Radiation Industry Association and issued jointly by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the National Health Commission and the National Medical Products Administration in response to the COVID-19 outbreak. The radiation sterilization method specified in these Specifications can be used as an emergency alternative to ethylene oxide sterilization of single-use protective clothing for medical use, reducing the sterilization time from the original 7-10 days to about 1 day and efficiently improving disinfection. The Provisional Specifications was also submitted to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) , which distributed the document in INFCIRC/931 for reference by member states. Some radiation sterilization companies offered free priority services to medical equipment manufacturers, hospitals, and centers for disease control and prevention, among others, in a move to speed up sterilization of medical supplies such as cotton swabs, gloves, and protective clothing for medical use to ensure timely provision of emergency medical supplies. By the end of 2020, more than 150 million sets of single-use protective clothing and isolation clothing had undergone radiation sterilization.
A large amount of medical wastewater and solid waste generated during the response to COVID-19 was treated with electron beam irradiation, which effectively killed bacteria and viruses, and prevented secondary spread to the environment through the disposal of wastewater and solid waste.
輻射滅菌抗疫
輻射加工是中國醫療衛生用品、藥品消毒滅菌的一種重要手段，已廣泛應用于一次性醫療器械、醫用乳膠手套、衛生材料、藥品包裝材料、中藥等領域。
2020年初新冠肺炎疫情暴發，醫療防護物資需求激增，醫用一次性防護服最為緊缺。國家原子能機構組織中國同位素與輻射行業協會編制了《醫用一次性防護服輻射滅菌應急規范（臨時）》及輻射滅菌參考流程，由工信部、衛健委和藥監局聯合印發通知，提出為應對疫情急需，可利用輻照技術替代傳統環氧乙烷方法對醫用一次性防護服進行滅菌消毒，使醫用防護服滅菌時間由原來的710天縮短為1天左右，且滅菌效率大為提升。同時，中國將《醫用一次性防護服輻射滅菌應急規范（臨時）》提供給國際原子能機構供各成員國參考，國際原子能機構通過《情況通報》第931號分發給各成員國。輻照滅菌企業免費或優先為醫療器械廠商、醫院、疾控中心等單位提供醫用棉簽、醫用手套、醫用防護服等醫療物資的滅菌服務，確保防疫應急用品及時供應。截至2020年底，輻射滅菌一次性防護服及隔離衣總量達1.5億多套。
對新冠肺炎治療過程中產生的大量醫療廢水和醫用垃圾采用電子束輻照處理，也可有效滅殺細菌和病毒，阻斷病毒通過廢水和垃圾向環境二次傳播。
