This study evaluated the inactivation of Brucella suis, Burkholderia pseudomallei,
Francisella tularensis, and Yersinia pestis on glass, Hypalon® rubber glove, and stainless
steel using vaporous hydrogen peroxide fumigation of a ∼15 m3 chamber. A
suspension of approximately 1 × 108 colony forming units (CFU) of each organism
was dried on coupons of each type of test surface and exposed to vaporous hydrogen
peroxide. A significant reduction in the log10 CFU of each organism on all test
materials was observed between the controls evaluated after a 1-hour drying time and
unexposed controls evaluated after decontamination. For all organisms, qualitative growth
assessments showed that vaporous hydrogen peroxide exposure completely inactivated
bacterial viability on all replicates of the test materials incubated up to 7 days
post-exposure. In parallel, all Geobacillus stearothermophilus biological indicators (BI)
exposed to vaporous hydrogen peroxide exhibited no growth after 1 and 7 days incubation.
This study provides information on using a combination of quantitative and qualitative
growth assessments to evaluate vaporous hydrogen peroxide for the surface decontamination
of B. suis, B. pseudomallei, F. tularensis, and Y. pestis within a large-scale
chamber.
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