Environmental Services

This report addresses the process by which sodium hypochlorite, the active ingredient in commercial bleach products, destroys disease-causing pathogens. It explains the science of how and why bleach is an effective disinfection agent, and presents information to address common misconceptions about bleach.

It’s usually the small things that are overlooked, emphasizes John Lowe, PhD, assistant professor in the Department of Environmental, Agricultural and Occupational Health at University of Nebraska Medical Center (UNMC). Lowe’s facility was among a handful in the United States that treated patients infected with Ebola virus in 2014. Healthcare systems such as UNMC and Emory University Hospital in Atlanta have well-established biocontainment units and expert staff that helped stop the spread of the deadly pandemic pathogen.

Last year, the U.S. witnessed its first case of the Ebola virus disease (EVD). As healthcare workers and civilian volunteers returned from West Africa to the U.S., questions surrounding how to evaluate and address EVD-related risks quickly came into focus-ranging from public health exposure to clinical practices inside hospitals.