Pilot Study Evaluating the Efficacy of Four Cleaning Solutions and Two Types of Mops in Delimited Areas of a Floor Contaminated with Cyclophosphamide

AbstractBackgroundHazardous drugs (HD) traces are measured in most hospitals that perform environmental surveillance. Uncertainties exist regarding the cleaning agents and procedures needed to completely remove HD contamination The objective was to evaluate the efficacy of four cleaning solutions and two types of mops in reducing contamination on a floor contaminated with a predetermined amount of cyclophosphamide (CP).MethodsThis pilot study was divided into three steps: 1) the voluntary contamination of a pre-delimited area on the floor (3600cmResultsThe average decontamination efficacy of the four cleaning products used was: 99.53%±0.41 % for the detergent, 99.74%±0.15 % for quaternary ammonium, 99.86%±0.11 % for sodium hypochlorite, 99.75%±0.15 %, for hydrogen peroxide. The average decontamination efficacy for disposable mops was 99.58%±0.28 % and 99.86%±0.09 % for non-disposable mops.ConclusionSodium hypochlorite, hydrogen peroxide, quaternary ammonium and a detergent applied with a disposable or a non-disposable mop were efficient to reduce the CP concentration on the floor contaminated with a predetermined quantity of CP. However, no cleaning scenarios was able to remove 100 % of CP after one cleaning session. Further studies are required to identify an optimal strategy.