Let it be added to the list of lessons learned from the COVID-19 pandemic: Cleaning supplies are limited.

There are, however, more options than most might realize. 

As the pandemic continued to spiral out of control in early 2020, cleaning supplies became scarce. One report showed that sales for aerosol disinfectants alone exploded by 385% in March 2020 when compared to the previous year. It should come as no surprise that costs rose to meet demand, yet some product shelves remained empty for weeks that stretched into months in some places. 

That doesn’t mean other options aren’t available. 

Omaha is home to a few different companies that offer alternative cleaning solutions that share a common molecule: Ozone.

Local companies such as BioSecurity Technologies and CleanCore Solutions use similar root technology to add an extra oxygen atom to O2, transforming the molecule into ozone. 

That ozone molecule—completely natural and environmentally safe—has a proven ability to destroy microbes like bacteria and molds. The added benefit is there is no resulting residue, fumes, or vapors. 

That also means no sick pets or children and no catastrophic reactions, like the potentially lethal chlorine gas created when bleach and vinegar mix.

Adding ozone to water does creates a solution known as ozonated water, or aqueous ozone. Its only byproducts are a little water and some extra oxygen floating around. 

The ozone cleaning solutions are created electronically with a system that is tied into the local water supply of a commercial building or home. The device creates the ozone molecules, then combines it with standard tap water to make a highly effective cleanser that reaches the EPA’s minimum standard as an approved sanitizer. 

Ozone has been used as an effective water treatment for more than 100 years, but its popularity as a surface cleaner has been more recent. Plenty of research shows it to be effective against dangerous critters that include E. coli, salmonella, staphylococcus, and klebsiella.  

Ozonated water’s effectiveness as a cleaner against viruses such as SARS-CoV-2—which is responsible for COVID-19—remains a scientifically unproven but intriguing possibility. CleanCore is working on new formulations and added experiments in hopes of meeting the high standard required to legitimately make such a claim. 

No aqueous ozone products from any company are listed in the EPA’s database of 531 approved disinfectants for coronavirus.

BioSecurity, the other Omaha company specializing in aqueous ozone, has its own powerful weapon in a fogging system that can disinfect entire rooms. The fogging system might bring to mind those chemical bombs used to rid a structure of pests. 

However, the BioSafe fogging system—created by BioSecurity founder and inventor Dan Lynn—is entirely safe for pets and humans, young or old. 

Biosecurity Technologies has clients throughout the United States, including the Thurston County Sheriff’s office in Northeast Nebraska. Sheriff Shelly Perez told B2B that they use the aqueous ozone to sanitize things such as holding cells and animal control units. 

“We really like it,” she said. “It saves money on the disinfectants that we had to buy for the virus.”

BioSafe systems are also in use at Thurston County Courthouse, varied locales such as Rosebud Casino in Valentine, Nebraska, and in the metro area’s Elkhorn Public Schools. 

Elkhorn South High School uses BioSafe’s ozonated water on most surfaces and floors throughout the building, Elkhorn South High School’s head custodian, Rusty Valverde, said in a recent press release. 

“We have been using BioSafe units since February, 2020, and we are ecstatic on its effectiveness,” he said.

This column was printed in the April/May 2021 issue of B2B Magazine. 

Dan Lynn, CEO of BioSecurity Technology Co.

Photo by Bill Sitzmann