PDA Technical Glossary
PDA Technical Reports are highly valued membership benefits because they offer expert guidance and opinions on important scientific and regulatory topics and are used as essential references by industry and regulatory authorities around the world. These reports include terms which explain the material and enhance the reader’s understanding.
The database presented here includes the glossary terms from all current technical reports. The database is searchable by keyword, topic, or by technical report. Each definition provided includes a link to the source technical report within the PDA Technical Report Portal.
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F-Value (Lethality Factor)
A measurement of sterilization effectiveness, the F-value is the calculated equivalent lethality (using a specified z-value), in terms of minutes at a reference temperature (Tref), delivered by a sterilization cycle. (TR1) (TR3) (TR30) (TR48) (TR61)
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F-Value (Lethality Factor)-- FH
A term used when the specific reference conditions of Tref = 160°C and z=20°C are used to calculate the equivalent lethality. For example, when the z-value of the BI is 20°C a process with an F(T=160°C, z=20°C), or FH, equal to 8 minutes is equivalent (in terms of delivered lethality) to a square wave process of 8 minutes at 160°C. A square wave process that provided an exposure of 45.2 minutes at 145°C would also yield an FH of 8 minutes. (TR3)