Effectiveness of commercial disinfectants for inactivating hepatitis A virus on agri-food surfaces

Six commercial disinfectants were tested for their efficacy in inactivating hepatitis A virus in solution or attached to agrifood surfaces. Disinfectant I contains 10% quaternary ammonium plus 5% glutaraldehyde; disinfectant II contains 12% sodium hypochlorite; disinfectant III contains 2.9% dodecylbenzene sulfonic acid plus 16% phosphoric acid; disinfectant IV contains 10% quaternary ammonium; disinfectant V contains 2% iodide; and disinfectant VI contains 2% stabilized chlorine dioxide. Among these, disinfectants I and II were shown to be the most effective in inactivating hepatitis A virus in solution. The efficacy of these disinfectants was further tested against hepatitis A virus attached to common agri-food surfaces, including polyvinyl chlorine, high-density polyethylene, aluminum, stainless steel, and copper. Disinfectant II was shown to be the most effective, with a maximum inactivation level of about 3 log(10). The inactivation efficacy was shown to be affected by the concentration of the active ingredient, the contact time between the disinfectant and the contaminated surfaces, and the incubation temperature. In general, hepatitis A virus was shown to be highly resistant to most disinfectants tested, and high concentrations of active ingredient were needed to achieve acceptable inactivation levels.