Table 2 Summary of microbial decontamination methods, effectiveness, and applications
From: Recent trends of microbial decontamination for occupational, industrial and domestic applications
Decontamination category | Decontamination method | Microbial effectiveness | Application | References |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Cleaning | Cleaning removes dust, dirt, and organic matter from surfaces but does not remove any microorganisms | None | The importance of cleaning is removing any materials that can interfere with the sanitizer's effectiveness | Rutala and Weber (2014) |
Sanitizing | Applying diluted detergent followed by rinsing with clean water and drying | Reducing the microbial populations to a sanitary level | Washing hands, clothes, tools, and equipment | Veerabadran and Parkinson (2010) |
Disinfection | Physically by solar Energy: direct surface contact with solar radiation at 40 °C | Vegetative bacteria, including V. cholerae and E.coli | Water and solid surfaces | |
Disinfection | Physically by dry heat: using a forced convection oven at a temperature of 160 °C for 2 h or 170 °C for 1 h | Vegetative bacteria, including pathogens | Heat-resistant inanimate objects such as glass and metal | Joslyn (2001) |
Disinfection | Physically by moist Heat: By immersing the objective in hot water of temperatures ranging from 80 to 100 °C for 60–600 s | Vegetative bacteria, including pathogens | Inanimate objects. However, repeated heat exposure may reduce some objects' function over time; especially those are made of plastic components | |
Disinfection | Physically by moist heat by pasteurization: (HoP) at (62.8–68.3 °C) for 30 min (HTST) at (71.7 °C) for 15 s (HHST) at (88.3–100 °C) for (15–0.01 s) (UHT) at (135–150 °C) for (2–15 s) In-container sterilization at 116 °C for 20 min | Vegetative bacteria, including pathogens | Milk, egg nog, and frozen, cream, dessert mixes, and cans | Al-Attabi et al. (2009), ChemViews (2012), Ciochetti and Metcalf (1984), Deeth and Datta (2011), Wright (2019) |
Disinfection | Physically by infrared irradiation FIR for surface decontaminations NIR for bulk decontamination | Vegetative bacteria and fungi | Food products such as cereals, nuts, shell eggs, and fruits | Alkaya et al. (2016), Bingol et al. (2011), Hamanaka et al. (2011), Wang et al. (2014) |
Disinfection | Physically by microwave and radiofrequency radiation | Vegetative bacteria and fungi | Food materials | |
Disinfection | Physically by ultraviolet type-B radiation | pathogenic bacteria | Drinking water | Mbonimpa et al. (2012) |
Disinfection | Chemically using alcohols: ethanol at a concentration of (mostly 70%) for 30Â s | Viruses, fungi, and vegetative bacteria, including pathogens | Inanimate objects | Fendler et al. (2002) |
Disinfection | Chemically using chlorine-containing disinfectants | Viruses, fungi, and vegetative bacteria, including pathogens | Chlorine is widely used for water and wastewater disinfection Hypochlorite, principally sodium hypochlorite, is used for surface disinfection in households | |
Disinfection | Chemically using hydrogen peroxide 7% of liquid H2O2 for 15 min inactivated 6 LR of Bacillus spores Fogging hydrogen peroxide can be applied to disinfect air when applied for 16–20 min in a 5–15% concentration | Viruses, yeast, fungi, and vegetative bacteria, including pathogens | Hard surfaces and soft surfaces, textiles, and ambient air. However, it is not compatible with some materials such as nylon, neoprene, some sorts of aluminum, and epoxides | Majcher et al. (2008), Masotti et al. (2019), Rutala and Weber (2014, 2016) |
Disinfection | Chemically using chlorine dioxide at low concentrations (2% chlorine nitrogen gas mixture), room temperature (between15 and 40Â oC), at atmospheric pressure, and high relative humidity to be effective (minimum 65%) | Viruses, yeast, fungi, molds, and vegetative bacteria, including pathogens. Endospores at prolonged exposure | Inanimate objects Decontamination of large buildings following the epidemic outbreaks and when microorganisms such as mold were prevalent | |
Disinfection | Chemically using peracetic acid at low concentrations (1% of liquid PAA) and high relative humidity (minimum 60%). Surfaces should be dirtless | Viruses, yeast, fungi, molds, and vegetative bacteria, including pathogens. Endospores at prolonged exposure | Porous and impermeable surfaces | Hayrapetyan et al. (2020), Hilgren et al. (2007), Majcher et al. (2008), Portner and Hoffman (1968), Wood et al. (2013) |
Disinfection | Chemically using Ozone for 3Â h, and during the process, the premise should be closed and free of people, and after the process, people can re-enter the room after 20Â min | Effective against vegetative bacterial cells, but it is less effective against yeasts, molds, and bacterial endospores | Porous and impermeable surfaces Better than a stream at killing bacteria without deteriorating objects susceptible to heat | Coccinella; Masotti et al. (2019), Towle et al. (2018), Tuttnauer (2017) |
Sterilization | Physically by moist heat by autoclaving at high pressure (15 psi) and (≈121 °C). Autoclaving includes gravity and pre-vacuum methods | Viruses, yeast, fungi, molds, vegetative bacteria, and endospores | Gravity autoclaving for non-porous objects Pre-vacuum autoclaving for porous objects | |
Sterilization | Physically by moist heat by Steam-in-Place (SIP) at 121 °C for at least 30. Sterilization power can be maximized by the addition of a hydrogen peroxide solution | Viruses, yeast, fungi, molds, vegetative bacteria, and endospores | Large pieces of equipment that cannot be loaded into an autoclave or those located in a fixed place can ( e.g., vessels, valves, process, and production lines) | |
Sterilization | Physically by dry heat by direct flame or incineration at a very high temperature (1500 °C) in a furnace oven | Viruses, yeast, fungi, molds, vegetative bacteria, and endospores | Direct flame for needles and inoculating loops Incineration for hazardous wastes and biological samples | |
Sterilization | Physically using E-beam and Gamma radiation | Viruses, yeast, fungi, molds, vegetative bacteria, and endospores | Ideal for sterilizing disposable items. However, its role in the sterilization of reusable tools are limited | Wilson and Nayak (2019) |
Sterilization | Physically using ultraviolet radiation type C (UVC) at 200–365 nm | viruses are more susceptible to be inactivated by UVC rather than bacteria that tolerate UVC due to the presence of the cell wall | Air and food products such as juices | Koutchma et al. (2016), Rodriguez-Gonzalez et al. (2015), Wang et al. (2009), Zhao et al. (2013) |
Sterilization | Physically using ultrasonic waves at 300–600 W under the sound intensity of 28 kHz for 10–30 min | Viruses, yeast, fungi, molds, vegetative bacteria, and endospores | Porous and impermeable surfaces | Chemat et al. (2011), Lin et al. (2019), Piyasena et al. (2003), Sango et al. (2014), Sarkinas et al. (2018) |
Sterilization | Chemically using ethylene oxide (EtO); applied as a cold gas | Viruses, yeast, vegetative bacteria, and endospores, but less effective against fungi | Electronic surgical equipment and other medical stuff that cannot be sterilized by autoclave | Anna et al. (2018), Moisan et al. (2013), Sureshkumar et al. (2010) |
Sterilization | Using hybrid physical–chemical cold plasma using argon, oxygen, or hydrogen peroxide gases for 3–15 min | Viruses, yeast, fungi, molds, vegetative bacteria, and endospores | Most commonly used for sterilization of food packaging material | Block (2001), Heckert et al. (1997), Hertwig et al. (2015), Kirchner et al. (2013), Zhao et al. (2020) |