Sunlight is the best disinfectant

摘要

IN THE HISTORY of medicine, praise is rightly showered on those who invented vaccines, antibiotics, antiseptics and anaesthetics. Few, though, remember Charles Chamberland, inventor of the humble autoclave. Yet the ability to sterilise surgical instruments reliably, by exposing them to high-pressure steam in such a device, has been crucial to the development of modern surgery. A mere 12 minutes in an autoclave at 121°C and two atmospheres of pressure kills 99.99% of common pathogenic bacteria. Standard boiling, at 100°C and one atmosphere, takes 80 hours to achieve that level of bactericide.