Disinfection of Bacillus subtilis spore-contaminated surface materials with a sodium hypochlorite and a hydrogen peroxide-based sanitizer.

We evaluated a sodium hypochlorite and hydrogen peroxide solution (Ox-B7) as a potential decontaminant of Bacillus subtilis spore-contaminated surface materials (porous and nonporous). Test materials were contaminated with B. subtilis spores to a final concentration in the range of 5.7–6.6 log CFU cm-2. The results demonstrated that a combination of sodium hypochlorite and hydrogen peroxide (Ox-B7) effectively killed B. subtilis spores on both porous and nonporous surface materials. Therefore, the combination of sodium hypochlorite and hydrogen peroxide can be used as an alternative disinfectant of spore-contaminated surface materials, as it is more effective than when hydrogen peroxide or sodium hypochlorite are used separately. Letters in Applied Microbiology (2008).