TOMI™ Environmental Solutions, Inc. (OTCQB: TOMZ) (TOMI), a global bacteria decontamination and infection prevention company, just announced the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has amended TOMI’s registration for its patented Binary Ionization Technology (BIT™) to include its effectiveness in disinfecting Clostridium difficile spores (C. diff)+, Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA)**and influenza (H1N1)**.
Dr. Halden Shane, TOMI’s Chief Executive Officer, stated, “Our amended registration with the EPA significantly increases our market opportunity in the U.S. hospital and healthcare channels. Through our extensive testing process with the EPA, we demonstrated BIT’s efficacy against a broad spectrum of pathogens*, MRSA**, H1N1** and C. diff spores+. The test protocols that TOMI passed for C. diff spores+ required 100% kill of the spores, three days in a row and demonstrated physical six-log kill (99.9999%) by destroying the cell wall of a C. diffspore+.
“SteraMist’s™ Environment unit offers complete room treatment of C. diff spores+ in just over 75 minutes for a 3,663.7 cubic foot room, less time is typically needed for smaller size rooms including application time, contact time, and aeration time, all of which allows for quick room disinfection and turnover. TOMI’s treatment time using our Environment unit may be the fastest of all other similar registered EPA fogging and misting equipment.
“Great for daily use, TOMI’s SteraMist™ surface unit goes above, beyond, under and around other disinfecting sprays and wipes. Terminal clean rooms may be treated in just 15 minutes for the average hospital room of 104 cubic meters, including rooms where MRSA** is suspect. Simply spray for five seconds per square foot for disinfection and walk away. When you re-enter the room, you can “smell the clean.” SteraMist™ is ideal for pandemic preparedness for listed organisms*. Overall our product requires no wipe, no rinse, leaves no residues, is a bleach and chlorine free formula, does not leave silver ions on surfaces or equipment, is easily incorporated in current cleaning procedures and does not contaminate the environment with any toxic by-products.
“Additionally, TOMI’s SteraMist™ BIT platform provides hospitals and healthcare facilities with a simple, quick and cost effective solution to reducing penalties associated with the Affordable Care Act and Medicare’s non-payment policy. We are very excited about the new opportunities in the US hospital and healthcare market as a result of our amended label, and we look forward to keeping you updated on our progress,” concluded Dr. Shane.
Infection is a Costly Issue for Healthcare Facilities
According to the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI), approximately 1.7 million people per year in the US are infected with infections during a hospital stay and over 98,000 of those cases are fatal. Patients admitted to a hospital have a 5% chance of contracting an infection, increasing their stay by approximately 17.6 days. As more than two-thirds of infections in hospitals affect people with Medicare or Medicaid, this becomes a costly issue for healthcare facilities. The US hospital and healthcare systems spends approximately $35 billion per year, or $1,100 per patient admission to treat such infections.
The SteraMist™ BIT Platform Provides Solutions
TOMI deploys BIT via its SteraMist line of products, which utilizes a proprietary system that kills and inactivates bacteria, viruses, and mold spores leaving surfaces and rooms free of pathogens* that are typically found in hospitals and healthcare environments. Most recently, its proprietary BIT has demonstrated its effectiveness in disinfecting Clostridium difficile (C. diff) spores+, Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) **, Pseudomonas* and influenza (H1N1) **, which are three of the most prevalent, harmful and costly pathogens facing healthcare systems worldwide.
TOMI received an EPA registration (no. 90150-2) for BIT in June 2015, for use as a healthcare-hospital disinfectant. TOMI’s SteraMist BIT is currently registered in 35 states to date. The SteraMist BIT brand of products includes the SteraMist Surface Unit, which is a handheld, point-and-spray application, and SteraMist Environment System, which is a complete room fogging system. More information on TOMI’s complete suite of SteraMist BIT products can be found at www.tomimist.com.
Source Materials
+Clostridium difficile spores (C. diff) (ATCC# 43598) test conducted with SteraMist™ Environment System.
** Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), Pseudomonas and influenza (H1N1) test conducted with SteraMist Surface Unit.
* Pathogens: SteraMist disinfects against Clostridium difficile spores (C. diff) (ATCC# 43598), Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) (ATCC# 33592), and Influenza A (H1N1) virus (ATCC VR-1469).
