Normal saline and other infusate solutions for infusion into the body of a patient during medical treatment are disclosed. In particular, infusates are disclosed that are formulated to resist changes to the pH of the solution when subjected to sterilization procedures that employ ethylene oxide gas. In one embodiment, a buffered infusate suitable for disposal in a syringe or other container is disclosed. The syringe is sterilizable using ethylene oxide. The buffered infusate comprises an aqueous solution that is disposed in the syringe and is suitable for infusion into a body of a patient. A buffer component is added to the aqueous solution to form a buffered solution. The buffer component is configured to resist a change in the pH of the buffered solution upon exposure of the buffered solution to the ethylene oxide during sterilization of the syringe.
