TABLE 1.

Physicochemical decontamination treatments selected to evaluate the novel assay developed for the assessment of potential prion inactivation procedures.

Type	Decontaminant	Conditions	References
Physical	Autoclave at 121°C	Exposition of the beads to 121°C for 20 min.	Known to be insufficient for prion inactivation (WHO, 1999).
	Autoclave at 134°C	Exposition of the beads to 134°C for 20 min.	Recommended for decontamination of prions (WHO, 1999).
	UV	Exposition of the beads to a UV (254 nm) lamp for 1 h.	Known to be insufficient for prion inactivation (Bellinger-Kawahara et al., 1987).
Chemical	Bleach	Incubation of the beads in commercial bleach (approximately 37 g hypochlorite per L) for 1 h with gentle shaking.	Recommended for decontamination of prions (WHO, 1999).
	NaOH	Incubation of the beads in 1 N NaOH solution for 1 h with gentle shaking.	Recommended for decontamination of prions (WHO, 1999).
	VirkonTM	Incubation of the beads in 1% VirkonTM solution for 1 h with gentle shaking.	Commonly used virucidal agent. Effect on prions unknown.
	AcO-SDS	Incubation of the beads in a solution with 2% SDS detergent together 1% AcOH at room temperature for 1 h with gentle shaking.	Partially effective against prions (Peretz et al., 2006).