EPA Provides Interim Guidance on Porous Surfaces
While EPA-Registration of products for hard surface disinfection is the bedrock of many infection control programs that protect human health, EPA has now also developed evidence-based guidance for porous surfaces “such as non-clothing fabrics and textiles/upholstery that may be laundered on an infrequent (non-routine) basis where spot treatment is the primary means of cleaning and/or disinfection.”
Such surfaces include those in “waiting rooms and offices in clinical settings, hospitals and long-term care facilities, schools, hotels, movie theaters, office buildings, and retail establishments, with a focus on high traffic areas and frequently used surfaces.”
Eligible product types include those “applied as liquids, sprays (including trigger sprays and aerosols), and foams,” and factor in wet contact time.
The interim guidance and test methods are for products with both “porous disinfectant claims and hard, non-porous surface disinfectant claims (that is, not products that have only porous claims).”
An example is products that work on healthcare privacy curtains.