Study Validates TANCS-Equipped Steam Vapor Systems In A Hospital Setting

Reduction in the microbial load on high-touch surfaces in hospital rooms by treatment with a portable saturated steam vapor disinfection system

Jonathan D. Sexton, MS; Benjamin D. Tanner, PhD; Sheri L. Maxwell, BS; and Charles P. Gerba, PhD

In a peer-reviewed study published in June 2011 in the American Journal of Infection Control, researchers found that steam vapor systems equipped with Advanced Vapor Technologies' proprietary TANCS® technology provide a means to reduce levels of microorganisms on hospital surfaces without the drawbacks associated with chemicals, and may decrease the risk of cross-contamination.

The study was carried out in 8 occupied rooms of a long-term care wing of a major Arizona hospital. Six surfaces per room were swabbed before and after steam treatment and analyzed for heterotrophic plate count (HPC), total coliforms, methicillin-intermediate and -resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MISA and MRSA), and Clostridium difficile. The researchers found that within only a few seconds of treatment a TANCS-equipped steam vapor system reduced bacterial levels by >90% and reduced pathogen levels on most surfaces to below the detection limit.