Validation of peracetic acid as a sporicide for sterilization of working surfaces in biological safety cabinets

Objectives: This study aimed to validate the use of peracetic acid as sporicide agent to decontaminate the workingsurface of a laminar flow biological safety cabinet (BSC), as an alternative to glutaraldehyde, including the selection ofthe disinfecting agent, the method of application, and the contact time.Materials and methods: The test organism was the spore-forming bacterium Bacillus atrophaeus ATCC 9372, which isa surrogate for an important infectious agent. Spore cultures were prepared from B. atrophaeus and used them to testthe sporicidal efficacy of peracetic acid on a BSC stainless steel surface. The performance of the sterilant was assessedby determining minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) and by microbial challenge in conditions that mimicked surfacecontamination. It was used 2.0% glutaraldehyde solution as the control.Results: The range of MICs was 0.6-1.1% for the control and 0.003-0.006% for the 0.2% peracetic acid solution. The 0.2%peracetic acid was an effective sterilant against B. atrophaeus spores (6-7 log spores, under defined conditions of use)after 40 min contact time, which was double that recommended on the product label.Conclusion: It was conclude that while the results of official methods can help to evaluate how products will perform,they are not usually reproducible in real-life user conditions and environments. Validation tests must be carried out toensure the efficacy and safety of surface decontamination procedures. J Microbiol Infect Dis 2012; 2(3): 93-99Key words: Peracetic acid, sporicidal activity, sterility, Bacillus atrophaeus spores, glutaraldehyde