5.1 The efficacy of disinfection technologies can be evaluated on finished products, as well as on developmental items.

5.2 This practice defines procedures for validation of the aerosol generator, preparation of the test specimen, application of the challenge virus, enumeration of viable viruses, assessing data quality, and calculation of decontamination efficacy.

5.3 This practice provides defined procedures for creating droplet nuclei that approximate those produced by human respiratory secretions with particular emphasis on particle size distribution and aerosolization media.

5.4 Safety concerns associated with aerosolizing microbial agents are not addressed as part of this practice. Individual users should consult with their local safety authority, and a detailed biological aerosol safety plan and risk assessment should be conducted prior to using this practice. Users are encouraged to consult the manual Biosafety in Microbiological and Biomedical Laboratories7 published by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

5.5 This practice differs from Test Methods E1052 and E2197 in the presentation of the virus to surface. The aforementioned test methods use liquid inoculum to contaminate carrier surfaces, whereas this practice presents the virus in the absence of water as droplet nuclei.

5.6 This practice differs from Test Method E2721 because (1) smaller particles are being formed, (2) the droplets will be dried, thus forming droplet nuclei, prior to application to air-permeable materials, and (3) unique equipment is required to create the droplet nuclei.