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- ASP Summit
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- Advancing MD Reprocessing: Challenges, Opportunities,...
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- Staff Safety in Sterilization: Why...
Advancing Medical Device Reprocessing:
Challenges, Opportunities, Safety & Sustainability
Sterile Processing and Central Sterile Services Departments worldwide operate within diverse regulatory frameworks, infrastructure constraints, and levels of technological maturity. Yet across regions and care settings, one principle remains universal: safe reprocessing depends on occupational safety.
This webinar opens the ASP Summit 2026 series by exploring how hydrogen peroxide fugitive vapor emissions associated with lowtemperature sterilization intersect with occupational health, technology evolution, monitoring practices, and international standards. Rather than focusing on a single regulation or geography, the session emphasizes globally relevant principles—understanding eventbased exposure patterns, recognizing the limitations of traditional safety assumptions, and appreciating the role of monitoring and data in informing riskaware practices.
Evidence drawn from peerreviewed literature and international guidance is used to illustrate key concepts and emerging trends in presenting a holistic solution. The goal is to equip participants with scientific language, foundational insight, and practical frameworks that can be adapted to regulatory requirements, operational realities, and resource levels—supporting continuous improvement in personal safety and reprocessing performance worldwide.
Review of peer reviewed scientific literature on acute and chronic exposure of hydrogen peroxide vapor.
Understanding where emissions occur and why exposure is often event‑based, not continuous over 8 hours.
Short‑term peak exposures, limitations of perception (odor/irritation), and key occupational health concepts
Hydrogen peroxide vapor can be odorless an smell is not an adequate monitor of safety. Real time monitoring helps reveal real exposure patterns and supports informed, risk‑aware decision‑making to implement a Peak Emissions Management strategy.
Presentation of technology and data that show statistically significant reduction in fugitive vapor emissions. Measurable breakdown of fugitive vapor to oxygen and water is important in key reductions for staff. These are consistent with evolving international trends.
This is the first webinar dedicated to “Staff Safety in Sterilization: Why Peak Fugitive Emissions Matter”, presented by ASP Continuous Education.
29 & 30th April 2026
- Ph.D. in Chemistry from the University of Southampton and J.D. from Duquesne University School of Law
- Member of the Pennsylvania Bar
- Over 35 years of experience in the design and manufacture of gas sensors and gas monitoring instruments
- With ChemDAQ since 2002
- Inventor or co‑inventor on more than 20 patents related to gas sensors and gas detection
- Author of numerous articles on gas detection and occupational safety
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Chief Medical & Scientific Officer at Advanced Sterilization Products (ASP), focused on reducing Hospital Associated Infections and improving standards of care.
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Holds an M.D. in Perioperative Medicine and Surgical Critical Care from the Mount Sinai School of Medicine.
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Earned B.S. and M.S. degrees in Chemical Engineering from Columbia University, and an M.B.A. from the MIT Sloan School of Management.
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Former faculty member at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine with 10 years of clinical critical care experience.
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Author of 76 peer-reviewed publications and recipient of multiple research grants, including NIH-funded surgical research.
Continuous electrochemical monitoring provides objective, real time exposure data
- There are global initiatives on perioperative emissions reductions such as EtO reduction as well as Electrocautery Smoke reduction. This presentation advocatess a commonsense approach to environmental safety similar to skin uv protection (acute and chronic effects.)
- Historical standards from 1971 such as OSHA centered around 8 hr levels. This is not wrong but incomplete. OSHA itself says so. LTS can generate acute events of emissions exposure. This was published in peer reviewed literature by Warburton.
- Hydrogen peroxide is an oxidant – this is its mechanism of action on germs. However, it can oxidize human tissue as well: skin/eyes/airway lungs. These are acute health effects and are recognized in peer reviewed literature. Staff with pre-existing conditions such as asthma, COPD etc can be more sensitized to environmental fugitive emissions.
- Continuous electrochemical sensing provide a way to detect acute emissions. Many global jurisdictions have evolved to adopting STELs.
- VH2O2 LTS that utilizes in chamber plasma technology provides a key abatement method in reducing emissions in a statistically significant way. LEAN methodologies advocated continuous improvement frames. PEM : Peak Emissions Management is a useful framework to protect staff in a Commonsense Way.
