Japan’s RIKEN BSI: Whole facility chlorine dioxide gas decontamination approach for a barrier facility—A case study

Abstract

This article discusses one of Japan’s newest research facilities—the RIKEN Brain Science Institute. The Brain Science Institute (BSI) conducts research that integrates multiple disciplines including medicine, biology, psychology, physics, computer science, and technology, and utilizes several different rodent models in a clean barrier facility. This article discusses the specific layout of the BSI barrier facility, the cleaning procedure used, and the decontamination process that uses chlorine dioxide (CD) gas as a replacement for formaldehyde gas. Diagrams show gas generator injection and sample locations, as well as fan locations. In addition, this article briefly compares the process of using CD gas to other methods of decontamination. Since CD was successful in the decontamination, the entire barrier facility now uses it to maintain the same level of cleanliness that was obtained in the initial process.