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Hydrogen Peroxide Vapor Decontamination of Hazard Group 3 Bacteria and Viruses in a Biosafety Level 3 Laboratory
Charlotte Falaise1, Cécile Bouvattier1, Guilhem Larigauderie1
1DGA CBRN Defence Center, Biology Division, French Ministry of the Armed Forces, Vert-le-Petit, France.
Aim:
This study aimed to validate the efficacy of hydrogen peroxide vapor (HPV) decontamination technology set up in a biosafety level 3 (BSL-3) laboratory on surrogates and hazard group 3 (HG3) agents.
Methods And Results:
The HPV decontamination system (Bioquell) was assessed with both qualitative and quantitative methods on (1) spore surrogates (Geobacillus stearothermophilus, Bacillus atrophaeus, and Bacillus thuringiensis) in the BSL-3 laboratory and in the material airlock and on (2) HG3 agents (Bacillus anthracis; SARS-CoV-2, Venezuelan equine encephalitis virus [VEE], and Vaccinia virus) in the BSL-3 laboratory. Other HG3 bacteria likely to be handled in the BSL-3 laboratory (Yersinia pestis, Burkholderia mallei, Brucella melitensis, and Francisella tularensis) were excluded from the HPV decontamination assays as preliminary viability tests demonstrated the total inactivation of these agents after 48 h drying on different materials.
Conclusions:
The efficacy of HPV decontamination was validated with a reduction in viability of 5-7 log10 for the spores (surrogates and B. anthracis), and for the enveloped RNA viruses. Vaccinia showed a higher resistance to the decontamination process, being dependent on the biological indicator location in the BSL-3 laboratory.
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