Vending

Coronavirus sharpens focus on sanitizing hard surfaces

A variety of sanitation solutions have been introduced in response to COVID-19, challenging self-service equipment operators looking to prevent the spread of the virus.

Image courtesy of iStock

August 26, 2020 by Elliot Maras — Editor, Kiosk Marketplace & Vending Times

While no one knows when the medical community will come up with a COVID-19 vaccine, one thing's for certain: the public is more aware of health risks than ever before, and people are paying closer attention to what they touch. Which is why many if not most self-service equipment operators are cognizant of the post-pandemic mindset and have been busy exploring sanitation products.

The search for effective cleaning products can be challenging, given the number of products introduced in recent months.

Large facilities embrace UV lighting

A number of large institutional and commercial properties have deployed ultraviolet lighting to sanitize their facilities, a non-chemical alternative to removing pathogens.

Some hospitals have deployed autonomous robots to flood guest rooms with UV light which tests have indicated can eliminate SARS-CoV-2, the COVID-19 causing virus, according to a report in The Wall Street Journal.

The New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority in May announced a test that uses UV lighting as part of a layered approach to disinfect subway trains, buses and crew facilities.

Whether these approaches are more effective at protecting people from harmful pathogens than alcohol wipes in most public environments is a question that hasn't been answered, according to several sources interviewed by this website.

Scientist weighs in

"Until we have some more thorough studies that show the prevalence of surfaces or inanimate objects transmitting the virus, it's hard to know how important that is," Matthew Cabeen, Ph.D., assistant professor at Oklahoma State University's biochemistry and molecular biology department, told this website.

"Bleach kills everything," Cabeen said, as do alcohol containing products like hand sanitizer. "They're able to dehydrate bacterial cells and viruses and kill almost all of them. Most disinfectants and sanitizing agents work by disrupting parts of cells that are common to all viral particles or bacteria."

Cabeen thinks people should be careful about using UV light, however.

"The same way that it kills the viruses and bacteria is by damaging the DNA, which of course, we're also susceptible to," he said. "Bleach isn't good for you either, but you aren't going to accidentally ingest it."

Cabeen said hard surfaces can be cleaned effectively with bleach and alcohol products. He further noted that hard surfaces are not the main transmitters of COVID-19. Most people get COVID-19 from respiratory droplets (through coughing and sneezing) versus hard surfaces, he said.

"There haven't been any advances in my opinion with surface disinfection with chemical agents since the era of COVID-19," he said.

One operator's journey

George Smith, president and CEO of Family Entertainment Group LLC, an Itasca, Illinois based, 50-unit chain of family entertainment centers, has been studying sanitation products extensively since the coronavirus began. Smith, who has reopened most of his amusement locations since early spring, has relied on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines for sanitation materials and has tested a variety of products.

He uses commercial grade disinfectants and Windex to clean his amusement machines daily.

For disinfecting larger surface areas, he has tested cordless, battery powered electrostatic sprayers. The sprayers, made by Victory Innovations Co. in Eden Prairie, Minnesota, charge the liquid before entering the nozzle, enabling large amounts of liquid to be sprayed over a targeted surface.

For his virtual reality headsets, Smith uses a self-contained box which dries the objects and removes any remaining detritus with high velocity air, a one-minute process. The UV light penetrates all surface areas of the device including those unreachable by wipes where bacteria and virus can live.

The device also uses "superhydrophobic nano coating" to prevent moisture from permeating the surfaces, according to the manufacturer, Cleanbox.

Cleanbox claims the solution is highly effective against H1N1, which caused the 2009 swine flu pandemic, but that additional studies are needed to determine the specific dose response required to inactivate COVID-19 on different surfaces.

Smith has also tested UV lighting fixtures provided by a hospitality partner, but he is not convinced the UV lighting fixtures are necessary since the virus is not usually transmitted on hard surfaces.

"It's not the main way that this (COVID-1) is progressing," Smith said.

"UV will pretty much kill anything that's there, but the practical nature of it is cumbersome," he said. In addition, "It comes with negatives," Smith said. Plastics, wood and rubber will disintegrate over time.

Killing versus spreading virus

"When people talk about things that kill COVID, they do kill COVID, but they don't stop the spread of COVID," agreed Randy Drawas, chief marketing officer at Vital Vio, Troy, New York based provider anti-microbial LED lighting to prevent the growth of pathogens.

"Nothing will eliminate it except for social distancing and a mask, washing your hands and getting a vaccine," Drawas said. "The only thing you can do is wear a mask so you don't spread it, and ultimately try to eliminate it with a vaccine."

Drawas compared some of the new sanitation products to bleach, which will also kill COVID but will not prevent it from spreading. Vital Vio uses overhead LED lighting to disinfect a surface. One option for a location is to have a light inside of a ceiling that would expose the environment to anti-microbial light, he said.

"COVID doesn't transmit itself necessarily by remaining on the surfaces," Drawas said, echoing both Cabeen and Smith. "Cleaning the surfaces is a really good idea for lots of reasons, but when it comes to COVID, (it's) purely human-to-human transmission."

"When we get to the end of this, hopefully sooner or later, people are more cognizant of the fact that invisible things can hurt us," said Drawas. "If there is a silver lining to COVID, it is the fact that there's been a shift in our perception in health and wellness," he said.

Part two of this two-part series will explore some of the products that have been introduced to prevent exposure to the COVID-19 virus.

For an update on how the coronavirus pandemic has affected convenience services, click here.