DECONTAMINATION
SERVICES LFC
has been decontaminating suites and equipment for more than thirty years. Formaldehyde gas has been the industry standard
since the invention of the biological safety cabinet. Recently a series of alternatives have arrived that will provide
a safer decontamination gas. We carefully reviewed the two major alternatives which are vaporized
hydrogen peroxide (VHP) and chlorine dioxide (CD). We read that studies with VHP showed a
poor ability to penetrate materials. If an organism were left under a pile of papers or other material VHP would not
reach it because it is a vapor and not a true gas. This makes VHP a good candidate for decontaminating empty animal
rooms and plastic isolators, but completely unsuitable for BSL-3 labs. CD does not have these limitations, but CD generators
were just reaching the market. We conducted simple experiments during our first
few CD decontaminations. We placed biological indicators using bacillus atrophaeus in a number of difficult to
reach spaces and found that CD penetrates as well as formaldehyde without the bad smell and cancer risk. We strongly
recommend this agent for space decontamination. See the Clordisys website for CD details, or call us for a quote.
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