Disinfectants

The unintended consequences of sanitizing production spaces

When Covid-19 began, workplaces and homes across the world adopted new standards of cleanliness to combat the spread of the virus. Many environments adopted safety precautions to keep people and workplaces sanitized and disinfected to a level not seen before. But even with the best of intentions, an unforeseen drawback emerged—how disinfectants can affect electronic reliability.

Initially, when we knew less about the novel virus—aka its mode of transportation and infection, or the virus’s survivability on various surfaces—the most important issue was high quality disinfecting agents. Complete elimination of the virus was paramount. How those agents interacted with the environment was less of a concern than personal safety.

But after two years , companies are stepping back to pause and look at quality and reliability issues that were not present before COVID. Could their disinfecting chemicals and practices have affected their products? The answer is, unfortunately, yes.

From sprays to fogging techniques, these chemicals (by design) end up everywhere. And while humans can wear protective gear or wash it off, often unprotected electronics in the facility, or the products themselves, remain a hidden challenge to both quality and reliability. Of course, these cleaning practices must take place, especially with new variants of Covid-19 rapidly developing.

But the problem here: how do we keep our homes and workplaces safe, while also maintaining electronic reliability?

In one case study, functional problems appeared after only a couple of fogging exposures. Even when disinfectants were not directly sprayed onto electronics, the complex circulation of air flow caused chemicals to settle and cause various failures. In standard workplaces and hospitals, the problem is dire. In manufacturing cases, however, it becomes an extra level of nuisance with customers sending products back at an increasing rate.

However, there is a light at the end of the tunnel. Not all disinfecting methods cause harm to electronics. There is a way to keep the workplace healthy and safe, while also maintaining the reliability we need.

The first—UV and air purification systems. This isn’t meant to replace disinfection, but is a great way to keep airborne germs from coughs and sneezes down to a minimum. This, plus masks in the workplace, can mitigate a lot of Covid-19 risk.

The second—rather than using any disinfectant and fogging the entire area, be diligent about choosing sprays and wipes that are safe for electronics. Approved hydrogen peroxide and alcohol-based cleaners will get the job done equally as well, while saving costs of replacement and repair down the road. Our favorite methods are control focus o-zone, or using UV light in the 254 nanometer range. Both of these methods keep the integrity of the environment while simultaneously ridding the space of bacteria.