Would someone be able to tell me what the difference between these two would be and when you would use them.

Minncare Cold Sterilant is a concentrated solution of peracetic acid and hydrogen peroxide. Actril is a pre-mixed, ready-to-use solution, also of peracetic acid and hydrogen peroxide, but at lower concentrations.

Minncare is labeled for use as a disinfectant for either fluid processing systems or surfaces, after dilution (the amount if dilution depends on the specific application). In dialysis clinics, it is typically used for water system disinfeection (both RO systems and distribution loops). It can also be diluted for use as a surface disinfectant for counter tops, floors, walls, etc.

Actril is labeled for use as a surface disinfectant for counter tops,etc and also for the exteriors of medical equipment. It is also labeled as a broad spectrum disinfectant for non-invasive instruments like scissors, clamps, etc. It may be used for system disinfection, but may not be economical for that because of the volumes requried.

Contact Minntech Corporation Technical Support if you need additional information. They can be reached at 800-328-3324.

Thanks,
Allen leduc
Product Manager, Filters & Sterilants

The original market name for MinncareTM was RenalinTM, and was developed and proven for use as a liquid sterilant by Renal Systems for use in dialyzer reprocessing. As stated in its MSDS, it is a “stabilized” mixture of 20% hydrogen peroxide and 4% peracetic acid. Not long after its debut in reprocessing, it was tried at a 1% dilution with purified water as an RO system disinfectant. It was very successful in disinfecting the Filmtec type of thin film composite membrane (which doesn’t tolerate chlorine) based on limited time exposure. So it was subsequently marketed for this purpose as MinncareTM. Since the patent has run out, the same formulation has been offered by other companies.

ActrilTM is another, much more dilute, solution of stabilized hydrogen peroxide and peracetic acid. It is 1% hydrogen peroxide and .08% peracetic acid. Proportionately, it contains much less peracetic acid. Cobe utilized ActrilTM as the alternate disinfectant for the C3 dialysis machine and Gambro kept it for the Phoenix. ActrilTM also found a market in surface wiping disinfection cleaning.

The concentrated MinncareTM formula is very corrosive to almost all metals and many plastics, and will eat through it’s polyethylene containers over a long time. However it has a reasonably long shelf life. Once diluted to more dilute use conditions (i.e., 1% for water systems and 4% for dialyzer reprocessing, the shelf life is very short).

The MinncareTM formula can cause severe skin burns and should always be used with gloves and extreme caution. It will attack almost all metals and many plastics so

quote:

The concentrated MinncareTM formula is very corrosive to almost all metals and many plastics, and will eat through it’s polyethylene containers over a long time

Unfortunately, I can confirm that statement.

It is true that the containers for Minncare Cold Sterilant can degrade over time. I had one actually fracture like glass when it was accidentally dropped (there were only a "phew" drops left in it when this was done), so be careful!