Decontamination of Personal Protective Equipment

Area of Science:

• Microbiology
• Environmental Science
• Public Health

Background:

• Effective decontamination of personal protective equipment (PPE) is crucial for managing biohazardous threats.
• Identifying reliable surrogates for highly pathogenic agents like Bacillus anthracis spores is essential for safety and efficacy testing.
• Peracetic acid (PAA) is a potent disinfectant requiring optimized application protocols for field use.

Purpose of the Study:

• To determine a suitable surrogate for Bacillus anthracis spores for inactivation studies using peracetic acid.
• To establish optimized field conditions for effective PPE decontamination with PAA.

Main Methods:

• Comparative inactivation studies using Bacillus anthracis and Bacillus thuringiensis spores on PPE fabric carriers.
• Time-kill and concentration-dependent studies with PAA-based disinfectants.
• Field application trials involving spraying and brushing decontamination techniques.

Main Results:

• Bacillus thuringiensis strain DSM 350 spores demonstrated inactivation kinetics comparable to the most stable Bacillus anthracis strains, validating its use as a surrogate.
• A 2% PAA solution with 0.2% surfactant achieved rapid (3-5 minutes) and effective surface decontamination.
• Optimized field decontamination using spraying and brushing achieved effective results within 5 minutes.

Conclusions:

• Bacillus thuringiensis serves as an appropriate and safer surrogate for Bacillus anthracis in PAA inactivation studies.
• Optimized PAA decontamination protocols, including spraying and brushing, are effective for field application on contaminated PPE.
• Rapid and efficient decontamination of PPE against spore contamination is achievable under field conditions.