Unless removed efficiently or killed by disinfection, the bacteria in the dried aerosols may remain viable for a long time. The question is how can this toilet sneeze-caused contamination be mini-mized? Possible Solutions While there are toilet devices that have mesh covers that minimize aerosol produc-tion when put down before flushing — just putting the seat cover down before flushing cuts down on toilet sneeze — the fact is that just a few flushes where this is not done will serve to contaminate a restroom. So, the only currently avail-able solution to minimize toilet sneeze-caused contamination is Simply putting down the toilet seat cover will reduce airborne bacteria. proper restroom cleaning. The only adequate bacterial mitigation procedure is one that ensures with quanti-tative post-cleaning data that contamina-tion has actually been removed to a desir-able level. That is, an effective procedure is one that integrates cleaning, disinfection and micro-biological measurement. Integration of a cleaning process with measurement of the microbiological out-come of the process is the basis of one part of the concept of Integrated Cleaning and Measurement (ICM) that has recently been introduced to the cleaning industry. No-touch spray-and-vac systems include disinfectant metering and injection in a pres-sure washer with a vacuum system specif-ically targeted at restroom cleaning. When used with a rapid organic material/bacterial detection instru-ment, such as a palm-sized adenosine triphosphate (ATP) device, the combination forms a powerful ICM process. An additional advantage of this bio-pol-lutant detection system is that the data col-lected can be stored in a computer to form a permanent record of cleaning efficiency. Efficiently removing dried bacterial con-tamination from tiled public restroom floors with grouted joints is an especially difficult task because the contamination enjoys the protection of the rough grout surfaces. However, it has been quantitatively shown that the spray-and-vac process where fresh cleaning and disinfecting solu-tion is continuously applied to tiled bath-room surfaces and subsequently extracted into a waste container is at least 60 times more effective in reducing bacterial con-tamination from grouted tile restroom floors than conventional wetting and wringing cleaning cycles. The phenomenon of toilet sneeze and the lingering contamination it can cause in restrooms needs to be more fully recog-nized by the cleaning industry along with the advantages of implementing the ICM model to meet this contamination chal-lenge. CM Are you in the dark when it comes to finding equipment and supplies? • Search by product category to get an overview of available options • Search by brand or company name to locate your favorite product or vendor Let us guide you to the resources you want. Click on SUPPLIER SEARCH at www.cmmonline.com Convenient and reliable information for the cleaning and maintenance industry Circle Product Information no. 202 on page 32 www.cmmonline.com 17
CMM – Archives Jul 2009: 17
