Using aerosols to decontaminate surfaces from nucleic acids

Abstract

Cross-contamination that leads to false positive results is a serious problem for laboratories using the PCR method. There are many ways to solve this problem, but none of them could be considered universal. Treatment with aerosols is the preferable method for decontamination of large areas of complex surfaces. The goal of this study was to determine effective aerosol compositions and regimens for the decontamination of nucleic acids on laboratory surfaces. The decontaminating activity of compounds that release active chlorine and active oxygen was studied using model surfaces contaminated with nucleic acids and bacteria. Effective modes of decontamination with aerosols were established by analysis of obtained experimental data. Differences between decontamination of nucleic acids and bacterial disinfection of the laboratory surfaces are shown.