FAQ

When BIT™ Solution is passed through TOMI’s Atmospheric Cold Plasma Arc it becomes ionized, creating an Activated Ionized Hydrogen Peroxide (AIHP) mist/fog that allows the ROS to exist in high concentrations without rapidly recombining and losing their reactivity.

After the two-step BIT™ process, the AIHP contains a high concentration of Reactive Oxygen Species (ROS) which begins to react on contact deactivating problem microorganisms leaving no residue or noxious fumes, converting to oxygen and water (humidity). AIHP has short application, contact, and aeriation times and is safe for use on all electronic and medical equipment.

VHP is a high concentration (35%) hydrogen peroxide dry vapor that is highly corrosive, highly dependent on controlled humidity (RH), and not for use as a high-level disinfectant for reprocessing of critical or semi-critical medical devices.
aHP is a hydrogen peroxide and Silver anion solution that can cause buildup or residue with multiple uses and has limited room treatment/application parameters.
HPV also a high concentration H202 (30%), is considered HAZMAT, and due to lengthy treatment times, is highly corrosive on metals and other materials.

SteraMist’s AIHP goes everywhere – up, in, and around. UV is direct line of sight, like a light bulb. SteraMist carries the same concentrated ROS throughout the room, UV loses strength the further from the light bulb. Shadows from furniture and equipment cause major issues.

To combat this, operators will use reflective paint, multiple lights, or move equipment around to reduce the chance of missing an area. This requires an extra investment of time, personnel, and effort, but also of money – UV systems can be quite expensive.

The total cost to treat HAI patients is between $35.7 billion and $45 billion in the US alone. Hospitals that score in the bottom 25 percent for preventable harm will lose 1 percent of their own incoming Medicare payments as per the Hospital-Acquired Condition Reduction Program, according to Modern Healthcare. In 2015, 724 facilities scored in that range – good for roughly $330 million in deductions. Not only that, but in 2015 Medicare is expected to penalize a record 2,610 hospitals for allowing too many re-admissions due to HAIs in a 30-day window.

SteraMist™ BIT™ is an economical, safe solution that is easily incorporated onto current cleaning protocols and can lower healthcare-related infection rates as proven in test hospitals, both domestically and internationally.

For residential, please proceed to book an appointment on our website to find out the cost which is based on the square feet of your premises.

In most instances, we request a site visit before issuing a quotation in order to gain a complete understanding of a client’s needs.

Since our business model is built on providing custom tailored services that best fits each client’s unique application, a site visit insures that we accomplish this goal.

In emergency situations, or in situations where a site visit is not practical, we can provide services based upon a time & materials agreement, or on a fixed price basis with a plus/minus % price variance.

For those clients that experience emergency biological occurrences on a regular, but unplanned basis, we offer discounted service rates based upon an annual commitment.

Clients on a preventative or scheduled service plan enjoy discounted rates, monitoring between treatments, documented results, free consultation and peace of mind.

Bleach is heavily marketed as a low-cost disinfectant. In practice however, bleach loses its cost advantage and its performance rapidly diminishes over time.

In the presence of organic matter (the everyday contamination we deal with), bleach loses its effectiveness and requires an extra pre-cleaning step, unlike today’s one-step cleaners/disinfectants. Its caustic nature often requires a secondary rinse unlike most modern disinfectants. In addition to the extra labor requirements, diluted bleach loses its effectiveness within 24 hours and must be prepared daily. Excess bleach must be discarded each day.

Of particular importance to many of our clients who are exposed to bleach on a daily basis, long-term exposure to bleach has well documented health consequences. And if that’s not enough of a reason to consider switching, prolonged use of bleach rapidly degrades furnishings and equipment, unnecessarily increasing your capital expenditures.
Most citations for disinfection of C. diff in the environment states that bleach should be used or compares against bleach. So my question is if bleach is so effective, why does C. diff continue to haunt us and sicken our patients? It is the fastest growing infection in our hospitals. The fact is that there are other chemicals that also work as sporicidals for C. diff as listed on the EPA K list. Other agents do work so why does bleach continue to be the mainstay?

A few reasons:
Bleach is easy to obtain and is cheap.
Bleach has been in the healthcare arena for many years.
The smell is familiar and not viewed as harmful by users, although data would suggest that respiratory problems are common in healthcare workers.

Protecting your organization from harmful contamination requires a significant investment in time and money to adequately reduce your risk level. With the exception of a few organizations with vast resources, it doesn’t make financial sense to invest in expensive equipment, staffing, training and maintenance requirements to properly decontaminate a facility.

On the other end of the spectrum, enhanced manual cleaning and the current selection of inexpensive equipment options have shown in repeated studies to have limited value.

Think closely when considering your bio-decontamination options

Double down and enhance your current cleaning efforts. While certainly an important step that shouldn’t be discouraged, increased labor and chemical costs don’t necessarily protect you from contamination residing in hidden spaces.

You simply can’t reach harmful microorganisms with enhanced manual cleaning despite your best efforts. And if you’re dealing with microorganisms that are easily aerosolized, your job is next to impossible. Your time and money is too valuable to waste with an ineffective method.

Purchase inexpensive equipment and attempt to perform decontamination in-house. If it were only that easy, we wouldn’t be having this discussion. While we all want economical options, today’s inexpensive equipment options have limited practical value to achieve anything other than low level disinfection of the least resistant microorganisms residing in the easiest to reach areas. Limited safety procedures, training and efficacy validation procedures expose your employees, clients or patients to undue liabilities. Harsh criticism certainly, but if you must validate high-level disinfection or sterilization efficacy levels in areas where contamination typically resides, your time and money is better spent elsewhere.

Purchase expensive equipment with a proven track record and perform decontamination in-house. We wish everyone could purchase the type of equipment we use at CSi, but the capital investment, training requirements and maintenance demands associated with this type of equipment only makes financial sense for a few organizations. Unless you have a dedicated staff and use your equipment every day, poor utilization rates and high support costs provide a poor ROI or return on your capital investment. In this day of increased budget scrutiny and intense focus on cost savings, you’re time and money is best spent on your core competencies.

We have a better option:
Outsource your decontamination problems to CSi and focus on running your organization:
Reduce your exposure to harmful contamination
Validate decontamination results
Start saving Time and Money
Your employees, clients and accountant will appreciate it!