Impact of Bleach Cleaning on the Performance of Dialyzers with Polysulfone Membranes Processed for Reuse Using Peracetic Acid

  Dialyzer performance may change with reuse depending on whether or not the dialyzer is cleaned with bleach. Bleach is usually used in conjunction with formaldehyde as the germicide. Because few data are available for dialyzers cleaned with bleach and disinfected with peracetic acid, we examined dialyzer performance in a cross‐over study of dialyzers containing polysulfone membranes reprocessed using bleach and peracetic acid or peracetic acid alone. Each dialyzer was used for a total of 16 treatments, or until it failed standard criteria for continued use. Urea, β 2 ‐microglobulin, and albumin removal were determined during the first, second, seventh, and 16th use of each dialyzer. Urea removal did not differ between the two reprocessing methods and did not change with reuse. Overall, β 2 ‐microglobulin removal remained unchanged in dialyzers reprocessed with peracetic acid alone, but tended to increase after the seventh use in dialyzers reprocessed with bleach and peracetic acid. Approximately 60% of β 2 ‐microglobulin removal resulted from trapping of β 2 ‐microglobulin at the dialyzer membrane. Albumin loss into the dialysate was clinically insignificant throughout the study with both reprocessing methods. These data show that the clearance of both small and large molecules by dialyzers containing polysulfone membranes is well maintained by reprocessing with peracetic acid and that additional cleaning with  bleach has limited impact on performance.