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Impact of Plastic-Wrap Properties and Cleaning Intervals on the Disinfection of Elevator Buttons

Fomite transmission is a possible route by which different pathogens spread within facilities. In hospital settings, elevator buttons are widely observed to be covered with various types of plastic wraps; however, limited information is available concerning the impact of different plastic materials...

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Autores principales: Kuo, Shin-Huei, Liu, Tzu-Yin, Chen, Tun-Chieh, Yang, Chih-Jen, Chen, Yen-Hsu
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: MDPI 2023
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9863425/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/36674403
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph20021649
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author Kuo, Shin-Huei
Liu, Tzu-Yin
Chen, Tun-Chieh
Yang, Chih-Jen
Chen, Yen-Hsu
author_facet Kuo, Shin-Huei
Liu, Tzu-Yin
Chen, Tun-Chieh
Yang, Chih-Jen
Chen, Yen-Hsu
author_sort Kuo, Shin-Huei
collection PubMed
description Fomite transmission is a possible route by which different pathogens spread within facilities. In hospital settings, elevator buttons are widely observed to be covered with various types of plastic wraps; however, limited information is available concerning the impact of different plastic materials on cleaning. Our study aimed to identify which plastic material is suitable for the coverage of elevator buttons and the optimal intervals for their cleaning. We tested six plastic covers, including polyethylene (PE), polymethylpentene (PMP), polyvinyl chloride (PVD), and polyvinylidene chloride (PVDC) plastic wraps; a thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) keyboard cover; and a polyethylene terephthalate-ethylene vinyl acetate (PET-EVA) laminating film, which are plastic films. The bioburden on the elevator buttons at different time intervals was measured using an adenosine triphosphate (ATP) bioluminescence assay. Our results show that wraps made of PVDC had superior durability compared with those of PMP, PVC, and PVDC, in addition to the lowest detectable ATP levels among the six tested materials. Regarding different button locations, the highest ATP values were found in door-close buttons followed by door-open, and first-floor buttons after one- and three-hour intervals (p = 0.024 and p < 0.001, respectively). After routine disinfection, the ATP levels of buttons rapidly increased after touching and became more prominent after three hours (p < 0.05). Our results indicate that PVDC plastic wraps have adequate durability and the lowest residual bioburden when applied as covers for elevator buttons. Door-close and -open buttons were the most frequently touched sites, requiring more accurate and precise disinfection; therefore, cleaning intervals of no longer than three hours may be warranted.
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spelling pubmed-98634252023-01-22 Impact of Plastic-Wrap Properties and Cleaning Intervals on the Disinfection of Elevator Buttons Kuo, Shin-Huei Liu, Tzu-Yin Chen, Tun-Chieh Yang, Chih-Jen Chen, Yen-Hsu Int J Environ Res Public Health Article Fomite transmission is a possible route by which different pathogens spread within facilities. In hospital settings, elevator buttons are widely observed to be covered with various types of plastic wraps; however, limited information is available concerning the impact of different plastic materials on cleaning. Our study aimed to identify which plastic material is suitable for the coverage of elevator buttons and the optimal intervals for their cleaning. We tested six plastic covers, including polyethylene (PE), polymethylpentene (PMP), polyvinyl chloride (PVD), and polyvinylidene chloride (PVDC) plastic wraps; a thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) keyboard cover; and a polyethylene terephthalate-ethylene vinyl acetate (PET-EVA) laminating film, which are plastic films. The bioburden on the elevator buttons at different time intervals was measured using an adenosine triphosphate (ATP) bioluminescence assay. Our results show that wraps made of PVDC had superior durability compared with those of PMP, PVC, and PVDC, in addition to the lowest detectable ATP levels among the six tested materials. Regarding different button locations, the highest ATP values were found in door-close buttons followed by door-open, and first-floor buttons after one- and three-hour intervals (p = 0.024 and p < 0.001, respectively). After routine disinfection, the ATP levels of buttons rapidly increased after touching and became more prominent after three hours (p < 0.05). Our results indicate that PVDC plastic wraps have adequate durability and the lowest residual bioburden when applied as covers for elevator buttons. Door-close and -open buttons were the most frequently touched sites, requiring more accurate and precise disinfection; therefore, cleaning intervals of no longer than three hours may be warranted. MDPI 2023-01-16 /pmc/articles/PMC9863425/ /pubmed/36674403 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph20021649 Text en © 2023 by the authors. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
spellingShingle Article
Kuo, Shin-Huei
Liu, Tzu-Yin
Chen, Tun-Chieh
Yang, Chih-Jen
Chen, Yen-Hsu
Impact of Plastic-Wrap Properties and Cleaning Intervals on the Disinfection of Elevator Buttons
title Impact of Plastic-Wrap Properties and Cleaning Intervals on the Disinfection of Elevator Buttons
title_full Impact of Plastic-Wrap Properties and Cleaning Intervals on the Disinfection of Elevator Buttons
title_fullStr Impact of Plastic-Wrap Properties and Cleaning Intervals on the Disinfection of Elevator Buttons
title_full_unstemmed Impact of Plastic-Wrap Properties and Cleaning Intervals on the Disinfection of Elevator Buttons
title_short Impact of Plastic-Wrap Properties and Cleaning Intervals on the Disinfection of Elevator Buttons
title_sort impact of plastic-wrap properties and cleaning intervals on the disinfection of elevator buttons
topic Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9863425/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/36674403
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph20021649
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