Electrolyzed products of a sodium chloride solution contain free residual chlorine and have been
proved to be effective for disinfection. Electrolyzed strong acid water containing a low sodium chlo-
ride concentration (ESW-L) is prepared by the electrolysis of a solution containing a low sodium
chloride concentration (0.1% or less). Although ESW-L has been confirmed to be an effective disin-
fectant, disinfective efficacy against dried HIV-1 and a target of ESW-L against HIV-1 have not been
clarified. In this study, we attempted to demonstrate the efficacy of ESW-L against dried HIV-1
which relatively resists disinfection and to analyze disinfection target. We demonstrated that ESW-
L inactivated the infectivity of dried HIV-1. In the analysis of the mechanism of disinfection,
although the HIV-1 structural protein, p24 within the virus particle, was not inactivated by ESW-L,
the enzymatic activity of reverse transcriptase (RT) and genomic RNA within the particle, however,
were inactivated after the treatment with ESW-L. These findings suggest that the enzymatic activity
of RT and genomic RNA are the target of ESW-L
