Peracetic Acid: A liquid that functions as a strong oxidizing agent. It has an acrid odor and is used as a disinfectant.Disinfectants: Substances used on inanimate objects that destroy harmful microorganisms or inhibit their activity. Disinfectants are classed as complete, destroying SPORES as well as vegetative forms of microorganisms, or incomplete, destroying only vegetative forms of the organisms. They are distinguished from ANTISEPTICS, which are local anti-infective agents used on humans and other animals. (From Hawley's Condensed Chemical Dictionary, 11th ed)Chlorine Compounds: Inorganic compounds that contain chlorine as an integral part of the molecule.Disinfection: Rendering pathogens harmless through the use of heat, antiseptics, antibacterial agents, etc.Sodium Hypochlorite: It is used as an oxidizing and bleaching agent and as a disinfectant. (From Grant & Hackh's Chemical Dictionary, 5th ed)Sterilization: The destroying of all forms of life, especially microorganisms, by heat, chemical, or other means.Equipment Reuse: Further or repeated use of equipment, instruments, devices, or materials. It includes additional use regardless of the original intent of the producer as to disposability or durability. It does not include the repeated use of fluids or solutions.Equipment Contamination: The presence of an infectious agent on instruments, prostheses, or other inanimate articles.Glutaral: One of the protein CROSS-LINKING REAGENTS that is used as a disinfectant for sterilization of heat-sensitive equipment and as a laboratory reagent, especially as a fixative.Buffaloes: Ruminants of the family Bovidae consisting of Bubalus arnee and Syncerus caffer. This concept is differentiated from BISON, which refers to Bison bison and Bison bonasus.Endoscopes: Instruments for the visual examination of interior structures of the body. There are rigid endoscopes and flexible fiberoptic endoscopes for various types of viewing in ENDOSCOPY.Ethylene Oxide: A colorless and flammable gas at room temperature and pressure. Ethylene oxide is a bactericidal, fungicidal, and sporicidal disinfectant. It is effective against most micro-organisms, including viruses. It is used as a fumigant for foodstuffs and textiles and as an agent for the gaseous sterilization of heat-labile pharmaceutical and surgical materials. (From Reynolds, Martindale The Extra Pharmacopoeia, 30th ed, p794)National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (U.S.): An institute of the CENTERS FOR DISEASE CONTROL AND PREVENTION which is responsible for assuring safe and healthful working conditions and for developing standards of safety and health. Research activities are carried out pertinent to these goals.Hospitals, General: Large hospitals with a resident medical staff which provides continuous care to maternity, surgical and medical patients.Occupational Health: The promotion and maintenance of physical and mental health in the work environment.Vision Tests: A series of tests used to assess various functions of the eyes.Hydrogen Sulfide: A flammable, poisonous gas with a characteristic odor of rotten eggs. It is used in the manufacture of chemicals, in metallurgy, and as an analytical reagent. (From Merck Index, 11th ed)Lettuce: Any of the various plants of the genus Lactuca, especially L. sativa, cultivated for its edible leaves. (From American Heritage Dictionary, 2d ed)Food Preservation: Procedures or techniques used to keep food from spoiling.Weights and Measures: Measuring and weighing systems and processes.Food Packaging: Containers, packaging, and packaging materials for processed and raw foods and beverages. It includes packaging intended to be used for storage and also used for preparation of foods such as microwave food containers versus COOKING AND EATING UTENSILS. Packaging materials may be intended for food contact or designated non-contact, for example, shipping containers. FOOD LABELING is also available.Edetic Acid: A chelating agent that sequesters a variety of polyvalent cations such as CALCIUM. It is used in pharmaceutical manufacturing and as a food additive.Benzbromarone: Uricosuric that acts by increasing uric acid clearance. It is used in the treatment of gout.Dentin: The hard portion of the tooth surrounding the pulp, covered by enamel on the crown and cementum on the root, which is harder and denser than bone but softer than enamel, and is thus readily abraded when left unprotected. (From Jablonski, Dictionary of Dentistry, 1992)Agricultural Irrigation: The routing of water to open or closed areas where it is used for agricultural purposes.Smear Layer: Adherent debris produced when cutting the enamel or dentin in cavity preparation. It is about 1 micron thick and its composition reflects the underlying dentin, although different quantities and qualities of smear layer can be produced by the various instrumentation techniques. Its function is presumed to be protective, as it lowers dentin permeability. However, it masks the underlying dentin and interferes with attempts to bond dental material to the dentin.Root Canal Irrigants: Chemicals used mainly to disinfect root canals after pulpectomy and before obturation. The major ones are camphorated monochlorophenol, EDTA, formocresol, hydrogen peroxide, metacresylacetate, and sodium hypochlorite. Root canal irrigants include also rinsing solutions of distilled water, sodium chloride, etc.Decalcification Technique: Removal of minerals from bones during bone examination.Hydrogen Peroxide: A strong oxidizing agent used in aqueous solution as a ripening agent, bleach, and topical anti-infective. It is relatively unstable and solutions deteriorate over time unless stabilized by the addition of acetanilide or similar organic materials.Spores, Bacterial: Heat and stain resistant, metabolically inactive bodies formed within the vegetative cells of bacteria of the genera Bacillus and Clostridium.Spores: The reproductive elements of lower organisms, such as BACTERIA; FUNGI; and cryptogamic plants.Bacillus subtilis: A species of gram-positive bacteria that is a common soil and water saprophyte.Semiconductors: Materials that have a limited and usually variable electrical conductivity. They are particularly useful for the production of solid-state electronic devices.Pressure: A type of stress exerted uniformly in all directions. Its measure is the force exerted per unit area. (McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Scientific and Technical Terms, 6th ed)Patents as Topic: Exclusive legal rights or privileges applied to inventions, plants, etc.Vacuum: A space in which the pressure is far below atmospheric pressure so that the remaining gases do not affect processes being carried on in the space.Hydrostatic Pressure: The pressure due to the weight of fluid.Blood Pressure: PRESSURE of the BLOOD on the ARTERIES and other BLOOD VESSELS.Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid: Liquid chromatographic techniques which feature high inlet pressures, high sensitivity, and high speed.Encyclopedias as Topic: Works containing information articles on subjects in every field of knowledge, usually arranged in alphabetical order, or a similar work limited to a special field or subject. (From The ALA Glossary of Library and Information Science, 1983)Chlorine: A greenish-yellow, diatomic gas that is a member of the halogen family of elements. It has the atomic symbol Cl, atomic number 17, and atomic weight 70.906. It is a powerful irritant that can cause fatal pulmonary edema. Chlorine is used in manufacturing, as a reagent in synthetic chemistry, for water purification, and in the production of chlorinated lime, which is used in fabric bleaching.Greenhouse Effect: The effect of GLOBAL WARMING and the resulting increase in world temperatures. The predicted health effects of such long-term climatic change include increased incidence of respiratory, water-borne, and vector-borne diseases.Dioxins: Chlorinated hydrocarbons containing heteroatoms that are present as contaminants of herbicides. Dioxins are carcinogenic, teratogenic, and mutagenic. They have been banned from use by the FDA.Hydrocarbons, Chlorinated: Hydrocarbon compounds with one or more of the hydrogens replaced by CHLORINE.British Columbia: A province of Canada on the Pacific coast. Its capital is Victoria. The name given in 1858 derives from the Columbia River which was named by the American captain Robert Gray for his ship Columbia which in turn was named for Columbus. (From Webster's New Geographical Dictionary, 1988, p178 & Room, Brewer's Dictionary of Names, 1992, p81-2)Water: A clear, odorless, tasteless liquid that is essential for most animal and plant life and is an excellent solvent for many substances. The chemical formula is hydrogen oxide (H2O). (McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Scientific and Technical Terms, 4th ed)Waste Products: Debris resulting from a process that is of no further use to the system producing it. The concept includes materials discharged from or stored in a system in inert form as a by-product of vital activities. (From Webster's New Collegiate Dictionary, 1981)Industrial Waste: Worthless, damaged, defective, superfluous or effluent material from industrial operations.Waste Management: Disposal, processing, controlling, recycling, and reusing the solid, liquid, and gaseous wastes of plants, animals, humans, and other organisms. It includes control within a closed ecological system to maintain a habitable environment.Medical Waste: Blood, mucus, tissue removed at surgery or autopsy, soiled surgical dressings, and other materials requiring special disposal procedures.Water Supply: Means or process of supplying water (as for a community) usually including reservoirs, tunnels, and pipelines and often the watershed from which the water is ultimately drawn. (Webster, 3d ed)