Methods for SARS-CoV-2 hospital disinfection, in vitro observations

Authors: Corzo-Leon, Dora E.;

Abbood, Hadeel Mohammed;

Colamarino, Rosa Angela;

Steiner, Markus;

Munro, Carol A.;

Gould, Ian;

Hijazi, Karolin

Source: Infection Prevention in Practice

Full text

: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.infpip.2024.100339

Abstract

Introduction

Escalation of chemical disinfection during the COVID-19 pandemic has raised occupational hazard concerns. Alternative and potentially safer methods such as ultraviolet-C (UVC) irradiation and ozone have been proposed, notwithstanding the lack of standardized criteria for their use in the healthcare environment.

Aim

Compare the virucidal activity of 70% ethanol, sodium dichloroisocyanurate (NaDCC), chlorhexidine, ozonated water, UVC-222 nm, UVC-254 nm against three SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern cultured in vitro.

Methods

Inactivation of three SARS-CoV-2 variants (alpha, beta, gamma) by the following chemical methods was tested: ethanol 70%, NaDCC (100 ppm, 500 ppm, 1000 ppm), chlorhexidine (2%, 1% and 0.5%), ozonated water 7 ppm. For irradiation, a je2Care 222nm UVC Lamp was compared to a Sylvania G15 UV254 nm lamp.

Results

Viral inactivation by >3 log was achieved with ethanol, NaDCC and chlorhexidine. The minor virucidal effect of ozonated water was <1 log. Virus treatment with UVC-254 nm reduced viral activity by 1–5 logs with higher inactivation after exposure for 3 minutes compared to 6 seconds. For all three variants, under equivalent conditions, exposure to UVC-222 nm did not achieve time-dependent inactivation as was observed with treatment with UVC-254 nm.

Conclusion

The virucidal activity on replication-competent SARS-CoV-2 by conventional chemical methods, including chlorhexidine at concentrations as low as 0.5%, was not matched by UVC irradiation, and to an even lesser extent by ozonated water treatment.

Rights

This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)

Cite as

Corzo-Leon, D., Abbood, H., Colamarino, R., Steiner, M., Munro, C., Gould, I. & Hijazi, K. 2024, 'Methods for SARS-CoV-2 hospital disinfection, in vitro observations', Infection Prevention in Practice, 6(1), article no: 100339. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.infpip.2024.100339

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Identifiers

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.infpip.2024.100339

Repository URI: https://hdl.handle.net/2164/22719