Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2021 Sep;131(3):1240-1248.
doi: 10.1111/jam.15041. Epub 2021 Feb 25.

Peracetic acid-based disinfectant is the most appropriate solution for a biological decontamination procedure of responders and healthcare workers in the field environment

A Rybka  1 , A Gavel  2 , T Kroupa  2 , J Meloun  3 , P Prazak  4 , J Draessler  4 , O Pavlis  1 , P Kubickova  1 , L Kratzerova  1 , J Pejchal  5
Affiliations

Peracetic acid-based disinfectant is the most appropriate solution for a biological decontamination procedure of responders and healthcare workers in the field environment

A Rybka et al. J Appl Microbiol. 2021 Sep.

Abstract

Aims: An effective decontamination procedure of personnel wearing personal protective equipment is required by CBRN responders and healthcare workers when dealing with biological warfare agents or natural outbreaks caused by highly contagious pathogens. This study aimed to identify critical factors affecting the efficacy of peracetic acid (PAA)-based disinfectants and products containing either hydrogen peroxide or sodium hypochlorite under the same conditions.

Methods and results: The influence of concentration, application (contact) time, erroneous human behaviour, interfering substance, technical assets and weather conditions on disinfection efficacy against Bacillus subtilis spores were assessed in 14 experimental groups. Residual contamination of protective suits was measured to provide responders with readily understandable information (up to 100 colony forming units classified a suit as disinfected). Weather conditions, short application time and erroneous human behaviour substantially affected the effectiveness of PAAs (P < 0·05). Non-PAA-based disinfectants (either liquid or foam) did not reach comparable efficacy (P < 0·001).

Conclusions: Peracetic acid was effective at a concentration of 6400-8200 ppm and an application time of 4 min.

Significance and impact of the study: The study provides operationally relevant data for the use of PAA-based disinfectants in preparedness planning and management of biological incidents and natural outbreaks.

Keywords: CBRN responders; antimicrobials; bacillus; bacterial spores; biocontrol; decontamination; disinfection; erroneous behaviour; peracetic acid; personal protective equipment.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Authors declare no competing interests.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Development of experimental study design (black square: ineffective procedure, white square: effective procedure, dashed square: summed results of groups E and F).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Anon. (2011) Technical Brief: Evaluation of Liquid and Foam Decontamination Technologies for Surfaces Contaminated by Bacillus anthracis Spores, vol No. 600S11003. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
    1. Anon. (2013) Bio‐Response Operational Testing and Evaluation (BOTE) Project ‐ Phase 1: Decontamination Assessment, vol No. 600/R–13/168. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
    1. Anon. (2018) Spray Nozzle Classification by Droplet Spectra. (No. 572.2). ASABE. https://webstore.ansi.org/Standards/ASABE/ANSIASABES572FEB2020. Accessed 28 Nov 2020.
    1. Archer, J., Karnik, M., Touati, A., Aslett, D. and Abdel‐Hady, A. (2018) Evaluation of Electrostatic Sprayers for Use in a Personnel Decontamination Line Protocol for Biological Contamination Incident Response Operations, No. EPA/600/R‐18/283. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
    1. Calfee, M.W., Ryan, S.P., Wood, J.P., Mickelsen, L., Kempter, C., Miller, L., Colby, M., Touati, A.et al. (2012) Laboratory evaluation of large‐scale decontamination approaches. J Appl Microbiol 112, 874–882. - PubMed