Application of a novel decontamination process using gaseous ozone.

John Moat, James Cargill, John Shone, Mathew Upton*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

Environmental disinfection in a health care setting is an important aspect of infection control. Recently, there has been interest in the use of vapor- and gas-based treatments for decontamination of surfaces and rooms. We describe preliminary results for an ozone-based decontamination of surfaces seeded with a range of vegetative cells and spores of bacteria of clinical relevance. The efficacy of the approach for room sanitization was also assessed. The protocol included use of a quenching agent to rapidly reduce ozone concentrations to safe levels allowing treatment times of less than 1 h for the majority of organisms tested. Using bacteria seeded onto agar plates and solid surfaces, reductions in bacterial load of greater than 3 log values were recorded for a number of organisms including Escherichia coli and methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus. Application of the process in a 30 m3 room showed similar reductions in viable counts for these organisms and for Clostridium difficile spores. We suggest that the potential of this ozone-quench approach should be further evaluated for disinfection or decontamination of healthcare environments.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)928-933
Number of pages0
JournalCan J Microbiol
Volume55
Issue number8
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Aug 2009

Keywords

  • Decontamination
  • Environmental Microbiology
  • Infection Control
  • Microbial Viability
  • Ozone

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