Decontamination Technology Utilizing Hydrogen Peroxide Vapour

Abstract

A variety of decontamination techniques are utilized to remove biological and chemical contaminants from surfaces. Nevertheless, new physical and chemical methods and agents are still being developed. The main reason is toxicity of the agents. This review summarizes recent findings on a new promising decontamination agent, hydrogen peroxide vapour (HPV), with almost ideal properties. Decontamination using HPV has become the method of choice in pharmacy, biomedical applications and health care. The HPV method is reliable, rapid, leaves no residues (decomposes into water and oxygen) and can be validated. So far only limited information has been published about decontamination of chemical and biologically active compounds using HPV. The definitive knowledge of its action and the influence of various factors are yet to be discovered.