Annual Decontamination of Life Sciences Facilities

In laboratories, vivaria, and research facilities, contamination control is critical.  Any contamination can affect the quality and results of the research and work taking place within the facility.  Routine cleaning and sanitation take place, but are aimed towards the most accessible areas such as floors, benchtops and common touch points.  Performing an annual “deep clean” of your facility by decontaminating it with chlorine dioxide gas allows for a true reset to zero pathogens.  By taking greater preventive measures, risk of microbial issues can be minimized or eliminated. Measures such as annual preventive decontaminations will help to eliminate the presence of any harmful organisms that would cause such issues. Decontamination with chlorine dioxide gas offers many benefits over other agents for such purposes.

Chlorine dioxide gas fumigation allows for the complete decontamination of a facility all at once with minimal downtime. Gaseous chlorine dioxide is the safest and most effective way to decontaminate BSL-3 and BSL-4 laboratories, passthroughs, biological safety cabinets, HEPA housings, and any other lab spaces. Unlike vapor or liquid based decontamination agents, chlorine dioxide will remain a gas over a wide range of temperatures and pressures, and gases are unaffected by room configuration and the amount or positioning of equipment. Our systems provide the ability to achieve complete distribution and penetration to each and every surface within your facility, including microscopic cracks and crevices to deliver an extremely high level of biodecontamination, something other agents such as vapors, mists, and fogs cannot promise. Our chlorine dioxide is gentle on materials and leaves no post treatment residuals so animal racks, cages, computers and other sensitive equipment can be left in these areas during the decontamination process. Rooms and equipment can be decontaminated all together in one single step thus eliminating the need for time consuming and costly autoclaving.

Depending on the size, facility decontamination can take place utilizing in-house chlorine dioxide gas generators or through ClorDiSys’ decontamination services. ClorDiSys provides services for routine or single-time events and specializes in contamination prevention and response for new and existing facilities. Chlorine dioxide gas has successfully treated many vivarium facilities to eliminate pathogens and pinworm eggs, new facilities to establish sterility, as well as facilities undergoing renovation. Whether it is a full room decontamination, or focused on separate equipment or components, routine prevention methods like annual decontamination will minimize the risks of a dangerous outbreak of pathogens by resetting your facility back to a true sterile state.

If you'd like to learn more, please join our Resetting to Zero: The Benefits of an Annual Decon webinar on June 24