The evaluation of electrolyzed water, sodium dichloroisocyanurate, and peracetic acid with hydrogen peroxide for the disinfection of patient room surfaces.

Background: Sporicidal disinfectants are necessary to control Clostridioides difficile and Candida auris. Novel application methods such as electrostatic sprayers may increase disinfection effectiveness. We employed a standardized protocol to assess 3 sporicidal disinfectants: electrolyzed water (EW), sodium dichloroisocyanurate (NaDCC) and peracetic acid/hydrogen peroxide (PAA/HO).

Methods: The study was conducted at 2 New York City hospitals (1,082 total beds) over an 18-month period. The 3 chemicals were applied by housekeeping personnel following the hospital protocol; the use of electrostatic sprayers was incorporated into EW and NaDCC. In randomly selected rooms, 5 surfaces were sampled for microbial colony counts after cleaning. Data analyses were performed using negative binomial logistic regression.

Results: We collected 774 samples. NaDCC-disinfected surfaces had a lower mean colony count (14 colony forming units [CFU]) compared to PAA/HO (18 CFU, P = .36) and EW (37 CFU, P < .001). PAA/HO and EW had more samples with any growth (both P < .05) compared to NaDCC. NaDCC applied with wipes and an electrostatic sprayer had the lowest number of samples with no growth and <2.5 CFU/cm (difference not significant).

Conclusions: The use of NaDCC for surface disinfection resulted in the lowest bacterial colony counts on patient room high touch surfaces in our study.