Hydrogen Peroxide Vapor Decontamination of Hazard Group 3 Bacteria and Viruses in a Biosafety Level 3 Laboratory.

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 (, , and ) in the BSL-3 laboratory and in the material airlock and on (2) HG3 agents ( 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 (, , , and ) 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 log for the spores (surrogates and ), 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.