Chemical apparatus and process disinfecting – deodorizing – preser – Process disinfecting – preserving – deodorizing – or sterilizing – Using disinfecting or sterilizing substance
Reexamination Certificate
2000-10-13
2002-01-01
Warden, Sr., Robert J. (Department: 1744)
Chemical apparatus and process disinfecting, deodorizing, preser
Process disinfecting, preserving, deodorizing, or sterilizing
Using disinfecting or sterilizing substance
C422S022000, C422S023000, C422S026000, C422S027000, C422S028000, C422S029000, C422S033000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06334979
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention generally relates to a gaseous blend of O
x
, and a method for applying the gaseous blend of O
x
, that can be utilized to significantly reduce the biological load on consumer products such as food products, botanicals and cosmetic ingredients, which have traditionally been treated with commercial sterilants or fumigants such as ethylene oxide, propylene oxide, methyl bromide, hydrogen phosphide, steam (heat), irradiation, and the like.
BACKGROUND OF THE TECHNOLOGY
A number of commercial fumigants are presently used to treat foodstuffs and other stored commodities. The most widely used fumigants are methyl bromide, hydrogen phosphide, and hydrogen cyanide. As disclosed in U.S. application Ser. No. 09/217,581, many of these compounds pose hazardous conditions for application personnel and can form deleterious residues in the foodstuffs and commodities that are treated. Furthermore, some of the traditional fumigants have been identified with the formation of carcinogens and mutagens which thus limit the products that can be treated.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,897,841 and 6,027,667 disclose the use of CO
2
as a carrier gas for phosphine fumigant.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,889,708 discloses a mixture of phosphine and CO
2
and the use thereof to fumigate stored produce, such as grains and other commodities.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,200,656 discloses the use of CO
2
as a carrier for methyl bromide in fumigation.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,998,377 discloses the use of CO
2
as a carrier for methyl bromide and hydrogen phosphide in fumigation.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,678,352 discloses the use of CO
2
as a carrier for toxic agents such as methyl bromide during fumigation.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,989,3 63 discloses application of CO
2
in pesticidal quantities for fumigation. The process disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,989,363 require administration of the CO
2
for a period of time of at least about 5 days.
Other procedures that have been developed to treat products utilize heat, ionizing radiation, and other chemical compounds. All of these procedures are potentially detrimental to the products' nutritional, physical and/or chemical attributes and thus make them undesirable. Insects and other pests damage to food products and other commodities account for billions of dollars of losses in the United States annually. Traditionally, a number of fumigants have been utilized to control these pests by their application under air tight tarpaulins, in sealed rooms and in steel chambers. All three primary gaseous fumigants; i.e., methyl bromide, hydrogen phosphide and hydrogen cyanide, are facing major regulatory restrictions and/or total phase out agreements over the next few years. With these limitations in mind, the search for effective alternatives has evolved the use of materials such as methyl iodide and sulfonyl fluoride. Unfortunately, these alternatives have limitations due to factors such as worker exposure, halogen content and damage to certain commodities.
Ozone (O
3
) and its primary active component, atomic oxygen, have been used in water and commodity sterilization for about 100 years. However, as discussed in more detail below, prior treatment methods using O
3
would be ineffective for many applications.
U.S. application Ser. No. 09/217,581 discloses a method and apparatus that uses a gaseous mixture of oxygen-containing gases, i.e., O
3
, O
2
and O
1
, hereinafter referred to as O
x
, to reduce biological loads on consumer products to eliminate pathogens while maintaining product stability.
As an advancement to the invention disclosed in application Ser. No. 09/217,581, the present inventors have surprisingly discovered that for a number of consumer products, O
x
biological burden reduction is even more effective at two distinct temperature ranges. With the appropriate adjustments to other parameters, both temperature ranges can be used for enhanced microbiological reduction and insect control, The present inventors have thus discovered that O
x
's effectiveness as a fumigant can be maintained and in some cases enhanced while increasing the treatment temperature. When the temperature is increased, certain other O
x
treatment parameters must also be adjusted away from those originally used for microbiological reduction.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is desirable to treat a wide variety of consumer products in a cost effective manner. The gaseous blend of O
x
, and method of the present invention permit fumigation (hereinafter referred to as “biological burden reduction” of a product in its original container (e.g., burlap bag, fiber drum, kraft paper bag, plastic bag, etc.)). Thus, double handling, product loss, and post treatment contamination are reduced.
The gaseous blend of the present invention consists at least in part of O
3
.
The method of the present invention utilizes the gaseous blend of O
x
in a technologically advanced treatment system that overcomes the limitations formerly encountered with O
3
treatment on biological burden. Prior O
3
treatmnents include, for example, (1) the submersion of an article to be treated in ozone-containing water and the bubbling of ozonated water over the article (see, e.g., U.S. Pat. No. 4,517,159 to Karlson and U.S. Pat. No. 4,640,872 to Burleson); and (2) the static treatment of medical devices and food products with gaseous ozone (see, e.g., U.S. Pat. No. 3,179,017 to Shapiro et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,069,880 to Karlson, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,120,512 to Masuda.) Systems utilizing such as described above have encountered several limitations. The incorporation of ozone gas into water and then submersion of items(s) to be sterilized or the spraying of ozone treated water onto the surface of item(s) to be sterilized limit the process to products that can be soaked in water. The few gaseous uses of ozone have been limited to the surface treatment of medical devices and the like due to the lack of adequate penetration into compacted products. Thus, although these past processes have proven the efficacy of ozone as a sterilant, the limitation of the use of ozone as a surface treatment has not presented ozone as a reliable sterilant or fumigant for products contained within commercial containers.
In addition to the generation of the ozone molecule, the present invention also utilizes the quenching effect of other inert gases to assist ozone generation, thereby increasing the stability of the O
x
radicals. Argon and carbon dioxide (CO
2
) can be used in the method of the present invention to achieve these factors. Furthermore, the presence of atmospheric nitrogen has been utilized in the food industry for many years to protect sensitive oils and fats from oxidative rancidity. Small quantities of nitrogen can be used in the method of the present invention to assist in the protection of sensitive food components as well as assisting in the stabilization of the O
x
generation.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a gaseous blend of O
x
and a method for applying the gaseous blend of O
x
for reducing biological burden from consumer products.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a gaseous blend of O
x
and method for applying the gaseous blend of O
x
for reducing biological burden from consumer products in a safe manner.
It is thus an object of the present invention to eliminate the health risks that are associated with the reduction of biological burden from consumer products.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a simple, efficient and economical gaseous blend of O
x
and a method for applying the gaseous blend of O
x
for reducing biological burden from consumer products that can be used at the site of production and/or packaging of such products.
In accordance with the above and other objects, the inventive gaseous blend consists of at least O
3
. The inventive method for applying the gaseous blend comprises applying a continuous stream of O
x
gas to a material at a specified temperature. The first temperature range is 45° F. to 60° F. Th
Carman Gary B.
Wirtz Stephen K.
Cosmed Group, Inc.
Donnelly Laura D.
Piper Marbury Rudnick & Wolfe LLP
Soubra Imad
Warden, Sr. Robert J.
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