FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS ON HYDROGEN PEROXIDE BIODECONTAMINATION

It depends on several things… its size, if there are many holes or if it is a perfect square area, if there is a lot of material or furniture inside, etc. What takes longer is the aeration phase, whereby the high concentration of peroxide that has risen in the air has to be catalyzed until it disappears completely. This aeration depends a lot on the materials in the area and the openings in it, the more material, furniture and openings… the longer this phase and therefore the treatment. A normal operating room of about 40-45 m2 usually takes between 5 and 6 hours. An ICU box between 3-4 hours and an isolation room between 4 and 5 hours.

Yes. Although once the treatment is completed, the area is safe for your activity, we recommend not using it until after one hour of air conditioning to ensure about 20 air renewals and recover the environmental comfort conditions required by the UNE 171340 standard.

It depends on each case. The rooms are usually well insulated and it is possible to design a service that monitors the adjacent areas. It is important that the ceilings are watertight and do not communicate with other adjacent rooms.

Yes. This is a common practice in many centers that we decontaminate. It only has the disadvantage of slowing down the treatment because the aeration phase will be longer due to the large amount of material. In cases of operating rooms that were subject to HAIs, we advise to leave the usual material in it, but not to introduce material from other operating rooms. For preventive or routine decontamination it is usually done. Sometimes, a lot of material is concentrated in a special warehouse and an intense treatment is programmed to treat this material, not all warehouses are suitable, it is necessary to study the case.

No. After the biodecontamination work, the area should not be cleaned because it does not leave any remains and the “sterile” condition left at the end of the treatments would be lost. The areas are ready for use after the treatments are completed.

The aerosol or fogging equipment only has a low concentration peroxide canister that sprays for a certain time followed by a resting phase. This equipment only achieves concentrations of 20 ppm in the air, compared to 400-900 ppm for vaporization equipment. Vapor equipment reaches higher concentrations in the air, so it is more efficient, and then takes more time to return the air to breathable conditions, which takes longer than when the concentration is 20 ppm and in liquid phase as is the aerosol.

Both. The vapor (hydrogen peroxide in gaseous phase) has its biocidal effect on the air and the microorganisms in it at the time of treatment and also has its effect on the surfaces of the treated areas where it is deposited in the form of microcondensation. Peroxide in aerosol form (hydrogen peroxide in liquid form) only has its effect on surfaces on which it is deposited by gravity, hence the greater effectiveness of the vapor form.

The steam biodecontamination equipment is a very complex high-tech equipment equipped with peroxide concentration, temperature, humidity, volume and weight sensors that allow the parameterization of the cycle according to pre-existing conditions of volume and furniture. The technology is much more complex and makes possible the recording and subsequent printing of all the values of the cycle, this evidence is what makes possible the issuance of the corresponding biocidal service report by the Technician Responsible for the Service. The power of vaporization, together with the use of 35% peroxide, makes it possible to achieve microorganism destruction values that can be objectively validated through the use of process indicators. Vaporization equipment only accepts hydrogen peroxide within its shelf life and perfectly traceable to be part of the service report. It is an expensive piece of equipment and is subject to annual maintenance and calibration to ensure quality of service.

On the other hand, aerosol or fumigation equipment usually only has an air compressor, which pushes the disinfectant through a nozzle, and a timer, without being able to control the concentration to be reached in the room to be decontaminated beyond a theoretical calculation combining aerosolization time and liquid concentration in the canister. It does not offer validable results, nor can the actual concentration achieved be known, nor can any efficacy report be issued.