Virucidal activity of the new disinfectant monopercitric acid.

Aims: The virucidal efficacy of monopercitric acid (MPCA) was evaluated against the enveloped vaccinia virus as well as the nonenveloped adenovirus type 2 and poliovirus type 1. The results were compared with that obtained with peracetic acid (PAA).

Methods And Results: In the virucidal suspension test without and with protein burden, all viruses were inactivated by 0.5% MPCA within 0.5 min or by 0.1% MPCA within 5 min as measured by a >10(4)-fold reduction in virus titres. For MPCA, there was a better virucidal efficacy than for PAA which inactivated all viruses included in the test within 15-30 min at a concentration of 0.2%.

Significance And Impact Of The Study: The high virucidal activity, short exposure times, and nontoxic by-products seem to make MPCA suitable as disinfectant for medical use and should warrant further investigation.