**5. Inactivation of non-enveloped viruses by oxidizers**

An oxidizer or oxidizing agent is a chemical that has the ability to oxidize other molecules, i.e., to accept their electrons. Common oxidizing agents used for disinfection, sterilization, or antisepsis include hydrogen peroxide, peracetic acid, ozone, and halogen-containing compounds such as sodium hypochlorite (bleach), hypochlorous acid, povidone-iodine, chlorohexidine, and chlorine dioxide, etc. These compounds can react with and alter the proteins and nucleic acids of nonenveloped viruses and render them noninfectious. Oxidizers comprise a large group of chemicals, and the relative order of susceptibility of non-enveloped viruses to oxidizers seems to vary by specific type of active ingredient (**Table 4**).

Parvoviruses are generally among the least susceptible viruses to various types of oxidizers, including sodium hypochlorite, hydrogen peroxide, and peracetic acid. However, for sodium hypochlorite, minute virus of mice appears to be more susceptible than porcine parvovirus and canine parvovirus. All picornaviruses appear to exhibit a similar degree of susceptibility to sodium hypochlorite; but within the family of *Caliciviridae*, feline calicivirus appears to be more susceptible than murine norovirus. Both adenovirus and rotavirus are susceptible to sodium hypochlorite.

The trending for hydrogen peroxide seems more complex than that for sodium hypochlorite. For example, there seems a higher level of variability within the *Picornaviridae* family. Rhinovirus is quite susceptible to hydrogen peroxide, whereas hepatitis A virus is much less susceptible. Poliovirus seems to be more susceptible than hepatitis A virus but less susceptible than rhinovirus. Similar to the case for sodium hypochlorite, feline calicivirus seems more susceptible than murine norovirus to hydrogen peroxide. Interestingly, adenovirus and rotavirus, two larger non-enveloped viruses, seem to be less susceptible than rhinovirus, a smaller virus, to inactivation by hydrogen peroxide. This is another case where the size of viral particle alone does not appear to dictate the level of susceptibility to a microbicide.

For peracetic acid, hepatitis A virus also seems less susceptible than poliovirus. Both feline calicivirus and murine norovirus are susceptible to peracetic acid and so is adenovirus.


*Variability and Relative Order of Susceptibility of Non-Enveloped Viruses to Chemical… DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.102727*


*Disinfection of Viruses*

*a See Table 1 for abbreviations used for viruses.*

*bBSA, bovine serum albumin; PBS, phosphate buffered saline; medium, culture medium; RT, room temperature. c Viral-inoculated lettuce was washed with PAA solution for a defined period of time.*

*Entries in purple font indicate results from undiluted original or diluted formulations with microbicidal active ingredients.*

#### **Table 4.**

*Efficacy of oxidizers against non-enveloped viruses.*
