What does recontamination mean?
Recontamination is the process of becoming contaminated again after cleaning, disinfection, sterilization, or another form of treatment. It may refer to a surface, piece of equipment, body of water, food product, or other substance becoming unsafe or impure after a period during which it appeared clean or controlled. The term is especially common in medicine, laboratories, food safety, environmental science, and industrial hygiene. Its importance lies in showing that initial decontamination may not be lasting if the conditions that caused the original contamination remain. Preventing recontamination can require barriers, hygienic procedures, secure storage, continuous monitoring, or repeated inspection. Although “contamination” describes contamination in general, “recontamination” emphasizes recurrence and therefore implies that something has already been cleaned or protected. The related verb “recontaminate” describes the act of making something contaminated again.
nounRecontamination is the act or condition of becoming contaminated again after having been cleaned, purified, or otherwise treated. It is used especially in medicine, environmental science, food safety, and industrial hygiene.
- The process of becoming contaminated again after an earlier cleaning, purification, or treatment.
- A situation in which a previously cleaned or treated site, substance, or environment becomes contaminated again.
"The outbreak was traced to recontamination of the equipment after it had been sanitized."
"Strict storage procedures are essential to prevent recontamination of the sterile samples."
"The report identified poor hand hygiene as the likely cause of the recontamination."
The plural is used when referring to separate instances or processes of recontamination.
"Frequent recontaminations prompted the hospital to revise its sanitation procedures."
A perfectly clean surface is not necessarily safe: it only stays that way unless measures prevent contamination from returning.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does recontamination come from?
Recontamination is formed from the Latin prefix re-, meaning “again,” together with contamination, from the Latin contaminare, meaning “to touch, mingle, or make impure.” The development of the compound reflects the modern use of decontamination and similar forms in hygiene, medicine, and science. Its close relatives include contaminate, contaminant, and contamination, all sharing the same Latin root.
Related word forms
How recontamination is actually used
Most common in technical, medical, scientific, and public-health contexts. It is generally a formal term, and it implies that contamination is recurring after an earlier attempt to remove or control it.
Easily confused with recontamination
Recontamination means becoming dirty, harmful, or contaminated again, whereas reinfection means becoming infected again by an organism.
Contamination is the general condition or process of being made impure or unsafe; recontamination specifically means contamination occurring again after cleaning or treatment.