Kinetics of Bacterial Inactivation by Peroxynitric Acid in the Presence of Organic Contaminants
Takashi Yokoyama, Shinya Miyazaki, Hiroko Akagi, Satoshi Ikawa, Katsuhisa Kitano
Abstract
A good disinfectant for the human body should have various properties, such as strong bactericidal activity, harmlessness to living tissues, and resistance against biological fluids (or other organic contaminants). Peroxynitric acid (PNA) showed a bactericidal effect that was several tens up to several hundred times higher per unit of molarity than that of sodium hypochlorite and peracetic acid, which are used as general disinfectants for medical equipment. Moreover, the high resistance of PNA to organic load was confirmed, indicating that PNA will inactivate bacteria effectively even on contaminated surfaces, such as used medical devices or the human body surface. Therefore, we propose that PNA can be used as a strong disinfectant for the human body.