Technology Background: Large- and Small-Area Environmental Disinfection Methods

Facilities interested in disinfecting areas like patient rooms or conference rooms are presented with a wide array of options and a confusing tangle of claims and evidence. In this article, we look at the different categories of disinfection products and lay out the evidence to help you understand the strengths and weaknesses of each category for different applications, in both healthcare and non-healthcare settings.

Many of these disinfection devices have demonstrated efficacy in killing or inactivating pathogens; however, they are one component of an effective infection prevention program and may not have been demonstrated to reduce infection rates overall.

The following tables summarize our recommendations and can help you quickly identify suitable options. We also link to Technology Briefing articles for each category, where you will find further details such as the evidence for their use, strengths and weaknesses for different applications, and considerations for their safe and effective use.

We judge each technology according to the following scheme:

Excellent—The technology has many advantages in reliably performing disinfection and has no major shortcomings.

Good—The technology reliably performs disinfection.

Fair—The technology is able to perform disinfection...