Sporicidal Efficacy of Methyl Bromide in Decontamination of a Porous and a Non-Porous Surface

摘要

Current gaseous and vaporized sporicidal decontaminants vary widely in terms of their toxicology, materials compatibility, penetrability, methods of generation, parameters for achieving efficacy and other characteristics. Methyl bromide (MeBr) is a gaseous fumigant and is known to be a broad-spectrum biocidal agent. In the past year or so, the sporicidal efficacy of MeBr against Bacillus anthracis has been confirmed based upon a limited set of screening tests. The primary objective of this study is to provide U.S. Government agencies with a comprehensive assessment of the sporicidal efficacy of MeBr. In this study, efficacy of MeBr against contaminated coupons of glass (hard surface) and carpet (porous surface) coupons contaminated with spores of avirulent (NNR1 Delta-1) strain of Bacillus anthracis is reported. The results show that the efficacy of MeBr is dependent on a number of parameters, such as the titer challenge level, presence of organic burden, and the type of surface being decontaminated with 6-log kill achieved on carpet at 30-degrees C in 24 hours at 50,000 ppm.