Final answer:
The destruction or removal of all viable organisms is known as sterilization, which is used to ensure the complete absence of microbes for various important industry standards.
Step-by-step explanation:
Sterilization ensures that all vegetative cells, endospores, and viruses are completely eradicated from the item or environment in question, which is crucial in laboratory, medical, and food industry settings. Methods to achieve sterilization may involve physical means, like high heat or pressure, or chemical agents, referred to as sterilants. When comparing microbial control methods, it's important to understand that a disinfectant is used on fomites to reduce the microbial load to safer levels, but may not eliminate all microbes. An antiseptic, on the other hand, is suitable for use on living tissues to combat infection and also targets microbes without complete eradication unless it is strong enough to act as a sterilant. Sanitation refers to the reduction of microbial presence to safe levels, whereas sterilization indicates the total removal of all microbes.