Researchers found that consistent use of disinfectant foam in patient room sinks led to fewer pathogens being spread, according to a study presented at a Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America meeting.

Research showed that the intervention led to a decrease in epidemiologically important pathogens, with 53 pathogens recovered from sinks with the intervention compared with 293 from control sinks.

Sinks provide a unique challenge in disinfection due to their basic construction of keeping water in the pipes to prevent sewage from coming back up.

According to the study, sinks were randomized 1:1, with 15 intervention sink drains being cleaned with foam disinfectant every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, and 15 control sinks undergoing standard disinfection. Every week, samples were taken from three locations in each sink: the top of the bowl, the tail pipe, and the P-trap.

The researchers believe the study’s takeaway is that sink mitigation is significant to keeping patients safe, until the industry can learn how to reliably and consistently disinfect sinks.