**3. Discussion and conclusions**

United States Food and Drug Administration guidance [39] and the literature [40] suggest that small non-enveloped viruses are generally less susceptible to inactivation of germicidal chemicals, such as hydrogen peroxide, than enveloped viruses, vegetative bacteria, and vegetative fungi. The virucidal efficacies displayed in these three surface and air inactivation studies indicate that DHP is capable of reducing surface and air concentrations of both enveloped and non-enveloped viruses. Therefore, it can be reasonably expected that DHP will be capable of similar microbicial efficacy against vegetative bacteria and fungi as well, a hypothesis that is strongly supported by microbial reductions observed in the presence of DHP in healthcare settings [17, 27].

Within healthcare settings, the environmental microbial load is strongly associated with the risk of developing an HAI, and effective reduction of environmental microbial load has been shown to greatly mitigate that risk [41, 42]. It might seem prudent to rely on the most powerful, broad-spectrum disinfectants, such as full-strength VHP, caustics, or chlorine dioxide fogging, which are capable of inactivating pathogens to levels that approach sterile conditions. Those types of disinfectants, unfortunately, can only be applied intermittently. Reliance on intermittent methods of disinfection has repeatedly failed to demonstrate a consistent and effective reduction in environmental bioburden [43]. It is apparent that, for strong disinfectants to achieve their full potential, these must be accompanied by an adjunct method of continuous microbial reduction that can mitigate levels of bioburden during the intervals between the periodic application of the other disinfectants.

In the wake of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic which caused the COVID-19 disease, there is a unique and universal awareness of the need for effective surface and air hygiene methods in the commercial, educational, and residential sectors. This increased demand for technologies that successfully mitigate environmental pathogen load in sectors outside of healthcare further stresses the need for simple, accessible, and automated adjunct technologies to accompany intermittent microbicidal application protocols and disinfectant usage. The repeated demonstration of the efficacy of DHP against a variety of pathogens in laboratory and field settings, its lack of human toxicity at the H2O2 concentrations used, and the material compatibility associated with DHP and its breakdown products (O2 and H2O) qualify the technology as a strong contender for meeting this demand.

*Dry Hydrogen Peroxide for Viral Inactivation DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.100451*
