Steam Vapor Disinfects Through a Variety of Textile Types

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The challenge faced by most cleaning and hygiene programs is that while properly-used disinfectants kill undesirable microbes, these products are pesticides (per US EPA), require precise dilution, present health and environmental hazards, and may or may not be effective under various conditions of usage and application. That is why a surface  disinfecting study conducted jointly by the Toxics Use Reduction Institute (TURI) and the Department of Clinical Laboratory and Nutritional Sciences at the University of Massachusetts Lowell, Lowell, MA, is noteworthy  in that it demonstrated consistent disinfection of surfaces by application of TANCS steam vapor even when using a variety of different cloth or textile applicators.

The data was presented by Dr.  Nancy Goodyear - Department of Clinical Laboratory and Nutritional Sciences, University of Massachusetts Lowell,  Lowell,  MA -  during a poster conference, "The Effect of Fabric Softeners on Disinfection by the AVT  MondoVap 2400 at the National Environmental Health Association (NEHA) AEC Conference, Friday, June 29, 2012, in San Diego CA.
    
"The TANCS  device has been shown to be effective at disinfecting a  Wide range of microorganisms, including C. difficile spores and MS2  bacteriophage, a non-enveloped virus surrogate, even when used with a variety of textiles types including cotton and microfiber towels when  washed without fabric softener, with liquid fabric softener, and with  dryer sheets," said Dr. Goodyear, who led a team of other researchers at UMass Lowell, including Robert DeMatteo and Daniel Warden,  Department of Biological Sciences, and Dr. Jason Marshall, Director of the Toxics Use Reduction Institute (TURI) Lab.
    
"All tests resulted in a 5 log reduction with 100 percent kill for both E. Coli and S. aureus. Laundering cotton or microfiber towels with liquid fabric softener or dryer sheets had no impact on disinfection by the AVT MondoVap 2400," noted Dr. Marshall.
    
"We were gratified that the use of different towel material (cotton vs. microfiber) - as well as fabric softener, liquid or dryer sheets - had  no effect on effective surface disinfection," said Rick Hoverson, principal of Advanced Vapor Technologies, Everett WA.  "We believe the versatility of the TANCS steam vapor system in disinfection using various textile applicators bodes well for future testing on textiles, possibly including patient and hospital room curtains and other porous and very challenging surfaces."