Final answer:
Liquid sterilants achieve sterilization when used with appropriate exposure time, concentration, and temperature to kill all microbial life, including vegetative cells, viruses, and endospores. They are essential for medical and lab settings but are not practical for all items due to the intensive nature of the process.
Step-by-step explanation:
Liquid sterilants and high-level disinfectants can achieve sterilization when they are applied under conditions where they can destroy all forms of microbial life, including vegetative cells, fungi, viruses, and endospores. Sterilization using these chemical agents requires adequate contact time, sufficient concentration, correct temperature, and proper handling protocols to ensure that all microbes are effectively killed.
The effectiveness of a disinfectant is influenced by the environment and the duration of exposure. High-level germicides such as peracetic acid and hydrogen peroxide, when used in their plasma state, are capable of achieving sterilization because they can penetrate surfaces and destroy both vegetative cells and endospores. The use of these types of sterilants is vital in laboratory, medical, and certain industrial settings to ensure items are completely free of infectious agents. However, it is not practical or safe to sterilize everything because of the time, labor, and potentially toxic effects involved in the sterilization methods.
For an item to be completely sterilized, the liquid sterilant must be able to access and contact all surfaces of the item. This level of cleanliness is imperative for items that come into contact with sterile tissues (critical items), while for other items that either come into contact with mucous membranes (semi-critical items) or intact skin (non-critical items), a lower level of microbial control may be acceptable.