I don't like perlite because its not recycle-able. I prefer lava rock or giver gravel. either can be autoclaved to sterilize and reused indefinitely and both are inert too.
They do weigh a bit more, but that can be a plus if you're relying on the medium to hold the plants up until they get some size to them.
Just my thoughts.

Heck, the package says it is re-usable. That was my plan -- reuse the stuff.

I don't have an autoclave, but my plan is to stick a plastic pot full of perlite into the microwave for about 15 seconds on high.

I'm a plumber and keep a loaf of bread on my truck to assist me in certain soldering jobs. To keep the loaf "fresh", I "nuke" it in the microwave for 10 seconds each time I use a slice. I've had the same loaf for nearly a year now, so that tells me the microwave is killing all the wee beasties! It also makes me question the food value of things eaten after being cooked in one of those beasts!!

Well, that's my plan.

I've wondered the same thing about nutritional value after nuking. It does seem that something nuked goes longer without ever going bad.

The article seems to be a plug for a perlite company named Schundler. It always sucks to have to wonder if the company/plug is accurate or if it is just for marketing. When only one company is mentioned, it leads me to believe that it's more about marketing. Kind of like the trade magazine articles on hydro. Don't get me wrong. Marketing doesn't necessarily mean dishonesty. It does, however, mean that they won't be detailing the faults of perlite over other media such as coco coir or river rock. I personally use coco-coir and perlite mixed. I also reuse it. When finished, it goes on my garden.

perlite is reusable, but eventually it gets compressed and /or covered with algae, at which point it has to be replaced.
an autoclave is really nothing more than a pressure cooker.
high temperature boil your rocks for 10-15 minutes and everything is dead. also, you could wash them in a chlorine bath to disinfect them as wall. maybe a 20% solution.

Couldn't you also just bake it in the oven at 450F for like 20-30 minutes?

They do that to sterilize driftwood for use in pet cages and such. And perlite is made by super-heating rock to a few thousand degrees or something like that so getting it hot clearly isn't going to hurt it.