A diluted 3% w/w hydrogen peroxide solution acidified to pH 2.5 by adding citric acid
inactivated SARS-CoV-2 virus by more than 4 orders of magnitude in 5 min. After a
contact time of 15 min, no viral replication was detected. Aqueous solutions of sodium
percarbonate inactivated coronavirus by >3 log
10
diminution in 15 min.
Conversely, H
2
O
2
solutions with no additives displayed a scarce
virucidal activity (1.1 log
10
diminution in 5 min), confirming that a
pH-modifying ingredient is necessary to have a H
2
O
2
-based
disinfectant active against the novel coronavirus.