Srinivasan Arjun, Bova Gregory, Ross Tracy, Mackie Karen, Paquette Nicholas, Merz William, Perl Trish M
Department of Medicine, Division of Infectious Diseases, Hospital Epidemiology and Infection Control, Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions, Baltimore, Maryland, 21287, USA.
Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol. 2003 Aug;24(8):575-9. doi: 10.1086/502254.
To assess the safety and efficacy of a chlorine dioxide water treatment system in controlling Legionella in a hospital water supply.
For 17 months following installation of the system, we performed regular water cultures throughout the building, assessed chlorine dioxide and chlorite levels, and monitored metal corrosion.
Sites that grew Legionella species decreased from 41% at baseline to 4% (P = .001). L. anisa was the only species recovered and it was found in samples of both hot and cold water. Levels of chlorine dioxide and chlorite were below Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) limits for these chemicals in potable water. Further, enhanced carbon filtration effectively removed the chemicals, even at chlorine dioxide levels of more than twice what was used to treat the water. After 9 months, corrosion of copper test strips exposed to the chlorine dioxide was not higher than that of control strips. During the evaluation period, there were no cases of nosocomial Legionella in the building with the system, whereas there was one case in another building.
Our results indicate that operation of a chlorine dioxide system effectively removed Legionella species from a hospital water supply. Furthermore, we found that the system was safe, as levels of chlorine dioxide and chlorite were below EPA limits. The system did not appear to cause increased corrosion of copper pipes. Our results indicate that chlorine dioxide may hold promise as a solution to the problem of Legionella contamination of hospital water supplies.
评估二氧化氯水处理系统在控制医院供水系统中军团菌方面的安全性和有效性。
在该系统安装后的17个月里，我们在整栋楼内定期进行水培养，评估二氧化氯和亚氯酸盐水平，并监测金属腐蚀情况。
培养出军团菌属的位点从基线时的41%降至4%（P = .001）。茴香军团菌是唯一检测到的菌种，在热水和冷水样本中均有发现。二氧化氯和亚氯酸盐水平低于美国环境保护局（EPA）规定的饮用水中这些化学物质的限值。此外，即使二氧化氯水平超过用于处理水的两倍以上，增强型碳过滤也能有效去除这些化学物质。9个月后，暴露于二氧化氯的铜测试条的腐蚀程度不高于对照条。在评估期间，安装该系统的大楼内未发生医院内军团菌感染病例，而另一栋楼内有1例。
我们的结果表明，二氧化氯系统的运行有效地从医院供水系统中去除了军团菌属。此外，我们发现该系统是安全的，因为二氧化氯和亚氯酸盐水平低于EPA限值。该系统似乎并未导致铜管腐蚀加剧。我们的结果表明，二氧化氯有望成为解决医院供水系统军团菌污染问题的一种解决方案。
