Despite the life-saving work done regularly by physicians in hospitals, the medical centers can quickly turn into a hotbed for contagious illnesses if the facilities are not properly sanitized and water systems maintained. Individual rooms, along with central heating & air conditioning systems must be properly sufficiently cleaned in order to prevent contagious diseases from spreading. While environmental and cleaning staff focus on room sanitation and cleanliness, infection can also take place through bacteria spread in hospital water systems. There are a number of preventative measures plant operations staff of hospitals can implement in order to reduce the risk of pathogen spread, such as E. Coli, in their hospitals, one of which is utilizing chlorine dioxide for disinfection.
Chlorine dioxide is a compound which, at the proper adjusted ratios, can be used to sanitize and disinfect a number of facilities. In its liquid form, chlorine dioxide can be used to eliminate pathogens in water and on hard non-porous surfaces. In its gaseous form, chlorine dioxide treats both surfaces and the surrounding air, and as a gas it will expand to fit the space that it is in. Chlorine dioxide is used across a number of industries, proving effective in eliminating foodborne illnesses in food processing plants, powerful in eliminating smoke odors from large-scale car rental facilities, and is an excellent biocide in inhibiting and destroying biofilm in water systems, to name a few of its uses. Because of these characteristics, the compound is increasingly studied in scientific research, such as a study done on the effectiveness of chlorine dioxide in hospitals.
The Journal of Cleaner Production produced a study on chlorine dioxide in its piece “Chlorine dioxide gas generation using rotating packed bed for air disinfection in a hospital”, which was spearheaded by Viet Minh Trinh and Min-Hao Yuan et al. These authors sought to better understand how chlorine dioxide, which is known for creating challenges in terms of its portability, through a rotating packed bed. This rotating packed bed was put into a hospital, and its liquid concentration, rotational speed, gas-to-liquid flow rate ratio, and liquid flow rates were all continually monitored. Trinh et al. state that “the results of the on-site disinfection test n the Mycobacterium Tuberculosis Laboratory in a hospital have shown effective elimination of all sites of E. coli at the gas monitoring point of 642 ppm-h and humidity of 81%” (Trinh et al., 2021). In this impressive study, the scientists found that indeed, the useof chlorine dioxide was crucial in eliminating E. coli spread and air quality within the studied hospital.
PureLine is home to leading experts in chlorine dioxide disinfection for a number of different industries, including healthcare facilities and hospitals, which often benefit from our team’s chlorine dioxide solutions. To explore how your healthcare facility can benefit from installing a chlorine dioxide generator for water systems, or using chlorine dioxide in liquid or gaseous forms for treating surfaces, fill out the contact form below and a representative will be in touch promptly.
