Assessment of Liquid and Physical Methods for Decontamination of Surfaces Contaminated with Bacterial Spores: Evaluation and Refinement of the Procedural Steps
Citation:
U.S. EPA. Assessment of Liquid and Physical Methods for Decontamination of Surfaces Contaminated with Bacterial Spores: Evaluation and Refinement of the Procedural Steps. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, DC, EPA/600/S-13/064, 2013.
Impact/Purpose:
In the document Assessment of Liquid and Physical Decontamination Methods for Environmental Surfaces Contaminated with Bacterial Spores: Development and Evaluation of the Decontamination Procedural Steps 2, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Homeland Security Research Program reports on its evaluation of an 8-step, low technology approach to decontaminating anthrax-contaminated surfaces. This approach had been used previously by EPA in response to contamination incidents involving naturally occurring anthrax spores. 3 The primary objective of this study was to determine through laboratory testing the effectiveness of individual and various combinations of steps of the procedure. A subsequent study, Assessment of Liquid and Physical Decontamination Methods for Environmental Surfaces Contaminated with Bacterial Spores: Evaluation of Spray Method Parameters and Impact of Surface Grime 4, was conducted to further evaluate the decontamination approach. The results from these studies indicate that shorter, simpler decontamination procedures, can be almost as effective as the previously employed 8-step procedure.
Description:
Technical Brief