Decontamination of surfaces contaminated with prion-infected material with oxidizing agent-based formulations

A prion deactivation method comprising:

• pretreating surfaces that carry prion infected material with an alkaline cleaner having an alkalinity of at least 500 ppm, the alkaline cleaner being free of oxidizing agents, other than preservatives;
• unclumping prion strands with a surfactant;
• and
• reacting peracetic acid in one of liquid and gaseous form with the prion infected material, the step of unclumping prion strands preceding the step of reacting with peracetic acid, thereby facilitating reacting the peracetic acid with the prion strands and deactivating the prions.

A prion deactivation method comprising:

• pretreating surfaces that carry prion infected material with a cleaner diluted in water at 8–16 cc/liter, the cleaner being an alkaline cleaner of the formula:
• 20.0–41 wt % potassium hydroxide;
• 0.4–8 wt % ethylenediamine tetraacetic acid;
• 0.0–7 wt % gluconate salt;
• 0.3–6 wt % propenoic acid homopolymer;
• 0.0–5 wt % C8 amphocarboxylates;
• 0.0–10 wt % sodium hexametaphosphate;
• 0.0–4 wt % silicic acid salt;
• 0.4–10 wt % acrylic acid homopolymer;
• 0.0–10 wt % dimethyldiallyl ammonium chloride and acrylamide copolymer;
• and
• treating the surfaces with peracid in one of liquid and gaseous form.