INFECTION PREVENTION
Reducing infection risk: evaluating new disinfection technology in a busy office
Does the introduction of two new disinfecting technologies reduce the risk of cross infection in a busy office environment? Andrew Kemp, Head of the Scientific Advisory Board for the British Institute of Cleaning Science presents a study examining the measurement of surface contamination levels.
Bacterial counts were taken from two busy office rooms. One as a control, the second as treated room. The treatment consisted of two new technologies, firstly a persistent disinfectant and secondly an air-cleansing system. Both rooms were tested, after routine standard cleaning and before the start of the business day, and then again at the end of the business day and before routine standard cleaning. Live Colony Forming Unit (CFU) counts were obtained using a hyper-accurate Bacteria Specific Rapid Metabolic Assay
(BSRMA) test.1,2 In addition, blood
agar cultures were used for species identification.
During the 48-hour testing period,
the room used as the control, showed an over 500% increase in surface bacterial bio burden by the end of the working day, on both days. The treated room showed a significant reduction in CFU counts, and by day two no samples had grown cultures on any plates. Surface live bacterial counts were reduced to less than one CFU per cm2
. Background
At the start of the COVID pandemic in 2019, there was significant speculation with respect to the route of transmission of the SARS-CoV-2 virus (COVID-19). During the pandemic, office managers and staff became far more aware of the possibility that office spaces could become areas of viral transmission. Terms like ‘super spreaders’ started to be used, and many offices made arrangements for staff to work from home. We need to understand if office surfaces can be considered ‘super spreaders’, as it is possible for some viral species to survive on surfaces for significant periods of time.3,4
We
undertook this study to look at the potential for office surfaces to be a vector for pathogenic transmission. A study methodology was devised that would look at the surface bacterial CFU counts in a busy London office, at the start and the at the end of the working day. Two new disinfecting technologies
have recently become available in the UK. The study includes the comparative measurement of live bacterial CFU surface counts using the current standard cleaning regime, versus the standard cleaning regime plus the two new technologies.
New disinfecting technologies Technology 1
During the COVID-19 pandemic, the potential that office spaces had to become areas of viral transmission was highlighted.
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Advanced Photocatalytic Oxidation (APO) – Beyond Guardian (ActivePure Technology – ActivePure air UK) This product is primarily used for active reduction in live microbial activity in the air. It filters the air, whilst also producing and circulating an hydroxyl radical (free radical) anti-microbial aerosol. Before the introduction of this patented technology, in order for free radicals to effectively kill microbes in the air and on surfaces, the concentration used would have to
MAY 2024
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