Treating coronavirus-infected laundry with a professional ozone washing system could have major implications for the future of infection control, according to new research.
The in-depth study carried out at De Montfort University Leicester (DMU) found that an Ozone based washing system, which uses ozone (a highly reactive gas) to kill bacteria even at low temperatures, completely removes all traces of coronavirus (OC43), a model virus for SARS-CoV-2.
Treating coronavirus-infected laundry with a professional ozone washing system could have major implications for the future of infection control, according to new research.
The system, that produces ozone was tested by a research team overseen by Dr Katie Laird, Reader in Microbiology and Head of the Infectious Disease Research Group, and expert virologist Dr Maitreyi Shivkumar, Lecturer in Molecular Biology. They found that cleaning with the technology completely removed the coronavirus, even in large washing loads. Additional testing also proved that the virus was not transferred to other textiles in the wash.
Believed to be one of the first studies of its kind, the research proves that coronavirus-infected laundry can be cleaned even at low temperatures, allowing heat sensitive items such as personal clothing, hospital mattress covers, emergency rescue wear and microfibre items to be cleaned effectively.
Dr Laird said: “A key element of tackling the spread of COVID-19 is to understand how effective infection control can be implemented in real world settings. There are a variety of situations in which textiles potentially carrying the virus need to be cleaned, such as care homes, hospitals and hotels.
Until now we have had little data about how the virus responded to different types of cleaning. These initial results demonstrate that cleaning with ozone, completely removes the model coronavirus.
“This held true even when treating larger loads of washing, as is likely to be the case in a real laundry setting. This result can give reassurance that such cleaning is effective.”
For further information regarding CLM’s Ozone producing laundry and room sanitisation systems, please contact a member of our team : info@clm-services.co.uk