Hot air oven

Hot air sterilization (by a hot air sterilizer, heating oven or drying oven) works by means of hot, dry air. It enables the reliable killing of human pathogenic germs and leaves no residues. Complete decontamination is achieved by exposure to a specific temperature for a specific period of time, for example 30 minutes at 180 degrees Celsius. The advantage is that this also covers narrow crevices or cavities that are difficult to reach in more complex constructions, which pose a danger as potential hiding places for germs. Due to their wide temperature range (e.g. from 5 to 300 degrees Celsius), they can be used for numerous other purposes in addition to hot air sterilization, such as drying or warm storage of samples. Hot-air sterilization is only suitable for temperature-insensitive materials because, unlike steam sterilization, a higher temperature is required to effectively kill bacteria, viruses or fungal spores with dry heat. In this case, for example, reusable instruments made of metal and glass can be sterilized.