Wet fogging and Dry fogging in Pharmaceutical Industry

Clean room disinfection is a major concern in pharmaceutical industry. In clean room of pharmaceutical industries the contamination is generally caused by air, water and equipment etc. But major role is played by personnel. Personnel are the major source of bio-contamination in clean rooms so as to control the contamination effective disinfection method is required.  

          

During clean room disinfection, area is cleaned and wiped by disinfectant solutions and another way to reduce the contamination is fogging.

There are two types of fogging.

(1) Wet fogging                        (2) Dry fogging

Wet Fogging:

In wet fogging, basically hydrogen peroxide solution with silver ions is used. ULV (ultra low volume) fogger are used to spread the solution in form of fog and average particle size ranges from 20-30 micron in size. That disinfectant solution is bactericidal, fungicidal and sporicidal. The result of the fogging is leaving the room wet with high RH and chances of corrosion. Post sanitization and manual cleaning activity is required in wet fogging. These are the few disadvantages of this fogging method.

ULV Fogger

Dry Fogging:

As compare to wet fogging, dry fogging is more reliable and effective. There are number of benefits of dry fogging. In dry fogging basically peracetic acid and hydrogen peroxide solution is used. This combination is also bactericidal, fungicidal and sporicidal. The main advantage of this fogging is particle size. The average particle size ranges around 7.5 micron in size. During dry fogging the particles of light weight bounce off the solid surfaces and resist the excessive condensation. These small particles when evaporates, the vapour penetrate in inaccessible areas and cause effective disinfection by killing the microorganisms. Dry fogging can cause much higher log reduction of Geobacillus stearothermophilus spores as compare to wet fogging. There is low risk of corrosion and  lesser material compatibility issue with dry fogging. It also eliminates post sanitization and manual cleaning activity.

Dry Fogger

Conclusion:

On the basis of above discussion it can be concluded that wet fogging and dry fogging both area effective but dry fogging has more advantages than wet fogging.

Thanks!