Laboratory Decontamination of HHS-Listed and HHS/USDA Overlap Select Agents and Toxins

Abstract

This review describes the susceptibilities of all currently HHS-listed and HHS/USDA Overlap select agents and toxins to 8 chemical and 2 physical decontaminants: alcohols, alde-hydes, bleach/hypochlorite, iodine, peroxides, phenolics, qua-ternary ammonium compounds, strong base, dry heat, and steam autoclaving. Inactivation protocols from the literature are presented to facilitate decontamination and the validation of decontamination in basic research and biodefense laboratories. These strategies provide a measure of public confidence that every select agent and toxin on surfaces or in solution can be rendered biologically inactive with easily managed procedures .