Medical center studies report effectiveness of aqueous ozone cleaning

OMAHA, NE — The University of Nebraska Medical Center (“UNMC”) released two studies under the title “Qualification of Surface Disinfection using Aqueous Ozone Generated by CleanCore Technologies Ozone Systems” in September, according to a press release.

Ozone, which is found naturally in the atmosphere, can be mechanically created through the interaction of electricity and oxygen. It is then infused into water to create aqueous ozone that can be poured into a sprayer or dispensed directly by an aqueous ozone system.

The aqueous ozone system used by UNMC was developed by CleanCore™ Technologies, based in Omaha, Nebraska. The researchers applied the test bacteria on both stainless steel and ceramic surfaces. For control purposes, the surfaces were cleaned using sterile water and peracetic acid in addition to the aqueous ozone. Peracetic Acid (“PAA”) is a powerful, hospital grade disinfectant.

CleanCore Distribution Sales Manager Matt Montag said in the release it was important to compare the aqueous ozone results to the results using water (negative control) and PAA (positive control) in order to understand the efficacy of the aqueous ozone solution.

In these tests it was clearly shown that aqueous ozone significantly outperformed water and in many instances performed equally to PAA.

The reports found “there was a statistically significant decrease in E.coli and Listeria CFUs found on the coupons post treatment both in total and compared to the negative control,” the release pointed out, adding “In several instances there was no significant difference in reduction of E.coli and Listeria between the aqueous ozone solution and the positive control PAA.”

While Montag says aqueous ozone systems are not registered with the EPA as disinfectants and should not be used in place of an EPA-registered disinfectant, “these tests and others like it indicate just how effective these cleaning systems are.”