Oxygen activatable formulations for disinfection or sterilization

Abstract

Methods and compositions are disclosed for producing air-activated, i.e., oxygen (O ) activated, disinfectant-sterilent solutions. Solutions containing a haloperoxidase (i.e., a halide:hydrogen peroxide (H O ) oxidoreductase, such as myeloperoxidase, eosinophil peroxidase or lactoperoxidase) plus a halide or combination of halides (i.e., chloride, bromide and/or iodide), an oxidase (i.e., a substrate:O oxidoreductase) capable of generating H O , and a substrate specific for that oxidase, are separately prepared under aerobic conditions, but all of the component solutions are made anaerobic prior to final combination and mixing. The anaerobic formulations are dispensed into containers capable of maintaining the anaerobic condition (e.g., pressurized canisters). Dispensing the solution at the time of use exposes the formulation to air (i.e., O ) which activates its disinfectant-sterilent properties. O is the rate limiting component for oxidase generation of H O . Under aerobic conditions the oxidase catalyzes the oxidation of its substrate and the reduction of O to generate H O . In turn, H O serves as substrate for haloperoxidase which catalyzes the oxidation of halide to hypohalous acid. Hypohalous acid reacts with an additional H O to generate singlet molecular oxygen ( O ). Hypohalous acid (e.g., hypochiorous acid) and especially O are potent microbicidal agents. Both haloperoxidase generation of hypohalous acid and its reactive consumption to yield O are dependent on the availability of H O . A high rate of H O generation does not result in the accumulation of hypohalous acid, but instead results in a high rate of O production. The microbicidal capacity and toxicity of O are limited by the half-life of this metastable electronically excited reactant, and as such, disinfectant-sterilent activity is temporally defined by and confined to the dynamics of oxidant generation.