Addressing Residual Risk Issues at Anthrax Cleanups: How Clean is Safe?

Canter, Dorothy A.

doi:10.1080/15287390590912621

Cited by 52 publications

(46 citation statements)

References 18 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…This is much higher than the reported median infectious and lethal dose concentrations of F. tularensis in humans (Saslaw & Carlisle, 1969). Complete inactivation (i.e., no growth) of F. tularensis may be necessary for effective decontamination remediation since such a requirement is the current criterion for remediation of a B. anthracis-contaminated site (Canter, 2005).…”

Section: Figurementioning

confidence: 45%

Inactivation ofFrancisella tularensisSchu S4 in a Biological Safety Cabinet Using Hydrogen Peroxide Fumigation

Rogers

Choi

2008

Appl Biosaf.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

Section: Figurementioning

confidence: 45%

Inactivation ofFrancisella tularensisSchu S4 in a Biological Safety Cabinet Using Hydrogen Peroxide Fumigation

Rogers

Choi

2008

Appl Biosaf.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…The contamination of infrastructure posed an unprecedented challenge of decontaminating over 20,000,000 cubic feet (ϳ1 million sq. ft.) of combined building interior space (6). The incident required concerted action from the government of the United States and the private sector to develop technologies for building interior cleanup.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Quantitative Method To Determine Sporicidal Decontamination of Building Surfaces by Gaseous Fumigants, and Issues Related to Laboratory-Scale Studies

Rastogi

Wallace

Smith

et al. 2009

Appl Environ Microbiol

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Chlorine dioxide gas and vaporous hydrogen peroxide sterilant have been used in the cleanup of building interiors contaminated with spores of Bacillus anthracis. A systematic study, in collaboration with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, was jointly undertaken by the U.S. Army-Edgewood Chemical Biological Center to determine the sporicidal efficacies of these two fumigants on six building structural materials: carpet, ceiling tile, unpainted cinder block, painted I-beam steel, painted wallboard, and unpainted pinewood. Critical issues related to high-throughput sample processing and spore recovery from porous and nonporous surfaces included (i) the extraction of spores from complex building materials, (ii) the effects of titer challenge levels on fumigant efficacy, and (iii) the impact of bioburden inclusion on spore recovery from surfaces and spore inactivation. Small pieces (1.3 by 1.3 cm of carpet, ceiling tile, wallboard, I-beam steel, and pinewood and 2.5 by 1.3 cm for cinder block) of the materials were inoculated with an aliquot of 50 l containing the target number (1 ؋ 10 6 , 1 ؋ 10 7 , or 1 ؋ 10 8 ) of avirulent spores of B. anthracis NNR1⌬1. The aliquot was dried overnight in a biosafety cabinet, and the spores were extracted by a combination of a 10-min sonication and a 2-min vortexing using 0.5% buffered peptone water as the recovery medium. No statistically significant drop in the kill efficacies of the fumigants was observed when the spore challenge level was increased from 6 log units to 8 log units, even though a general trend toward inhibition of fumigant efficacy was evident. The organic burden (0 to 5%) in the spore inoculum resulted in a statistically significant drop in spore recovery (at the 2 or 5% level). The effect on spore killing was a function of the organic bioburden amount and the material type. In summary, a high-throughput quantitative method was developed for determining the efficacies of fumigants, and the spore recoveries from five porous materials and one nonporous material ranged between 20 and 80%.Biological terrorism has become a major concern in the United States since the anthrax spore-tainted letters in the fall of 2001 resulted in contamination and closure of the U.S. Postal Service Curseen-Morris Processing and Distribution Center (Brentwood Post Office), the Hart Senate Office Building, and the American Media Inc. office building in Boca Raton, FL. The contamination of infrastructure posed an unprecedented challenge of decontaminating over 20,000,000 cubic feet (ϳ1 million sq. ft.) of combined building interior space (6). The incident required concerted action from the government of the United States and the private sector to develop technologies for building interior cleanup. A number of liquid (29) and gaseous (3) products were granted crisis exemptions under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for use as sterilants against Bacillus anthracis spores, but their application and efficacy in t...

show abstract

“…Gaseous hydrogen peroxide (10,17,20,29) and chlorine dioxide technologies (6,10,19,34,39) have been shown to be effective against a wide range of bacterial and viral organisms.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Low-Temperature Decontamination with Hydrogen Peroxide or Chlorine Dioxide for Space Applications

Pottage¹,

Macken²,

Giri³

et al. 2012

Appl Environ Microbiol

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

ABSTRACTThe currently used microbial decontamination method for spacecraft and components uses dry-heat microbial reduction at temperatures of >110°C for extended periods to prevent the contamination of extraplanetary destinations. This process is effective and reproducible, but it is also long and costly and precludes the use of heat-labile materials. The need for an alternative to dry-heat microbial reduction has been identified by space agencies. Investigations assessing the biological efficacy of two gaseous decontamination technologies, vapor hydrogen peroxide (Steris) and chlorine dioxide (ClorDiSys), were undertaken in a 20-m3exposure chamber. Five spore-formingBacillusspp. were exposed on stainless steel coupons to vaporized hydrogen peroxide and chlorine dioxide gas. Exposure for 20 min to vapor hydrogen peroxide resulted in 6- and 5-log reductions in the recovery ofBacillus atrophaeusandGeobacillus stearothermophilus, respectively. However, in comparison, chlorine dioxide required an exposure period of 60 min to reduce bothB. atrophaeusandG. stearothermophilusby 5 logs. Of the three otherBacillusspp. tested,Bacillus thuringiensisproved the most resistant to hydrogen peroxide and chlorine dioxide with D values of 175.4 s and 6.6 h, respectively. Both low-temperature decontamination technologies proved effective at reducing theBacillusspp. tested within the exposure ranges by over 5 logs, with the exception ofB. thuringiensis, which was more resistant to both technologies. These results indicate that a review of the indicator organism choice and loading could provide a more appropriate and realistic challenge for the sterilization procedures used in the space industry.

show abstract

Addressing Residual Risk Issues at Anthrax Cleanups: How Clean is Safe?

Cited by 52 publications

References 18 publications

Inactivation ofFrancisella tularensisSchu S4 in a Biological Safety Cabinet Using Hydrogen Peroxide Fumigation

Inactivation ofFrancisella tularensisSchu S4 in a Biological Safety Cabinet Using Hydrogen Peroxide Fumigation

Quantitative Method To Determine Sporicidal Decontamination of Building Surfaces by Gaseous Fumigants, and Issues Related to Laboratory-Scale Studies

Low-Temperature Decontamination with Hydrogen Peroxide or Chlorine Dioxide for Space Applications

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About