About EBSA11 - Course B. Decontamination

Instructors:

Allan Bennett, Health Protection Agency, United Kingdom
Peter Hoffman, Laboratory of Healthcare Associated Infections, United Kingdom
Steve Copping, HSE Biological Agents Unit, Bootle, United Kingdom

Short description:
Disinfection using chemical agents is widely used in laboratories handling pathogenic agents. Recently, concerns over bioterrorism and nosocomial infection have increased interest in decontamination outside the microbiology laboratory. This workshop will introduce the concepts behind disinfection, decontamination, and sterilization, critically describe the commonly used liquid disinfectants and introduce disinfectant efficacy testing. The legislative framework in the EU for both liquid and gaseous disinfection will be discussed by a UK regulator. The available gaseous disinfection methods (formaldehyde, H 2 O 2 , Chlorine Dioxide) will be critically described and the practical issues of use of gaseous disinfectants in the laboratory environment and other areas including exposure control, validation, filter disinfection and efficacy testing will be discussed. Time will be allocated to allow questions from the audience to be discussed and hopefully answered. Attendance on this workshop should allow attendees to keep up to date with recent developments in this area.