Which Surface
Disinfectant?
Introduction to Environmental Surface Disinfectants
| Contents: | 1. | NEW - Wipes and Iodophores (Posted Jan. '99) | |
| 2. | Results
of Disinfectant Efficacy Testing Wipes, Iodophores Which disinfectants work? |
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| 3. | Company Information/Phone Numbers and Disinfectant Active Ingredients | ||
| 4. | JADA article, October 1989 -Report on 39 product brands available at the time. | ||
| 5. | Summary of Test Results and Conclusion | ||
| 6. | Materials & Methods | ||
| a. | Polio Suspension Test Method | ||
| b. | Tuberculosis Suspension Test Method | ||
| c. | Hard Surface Disinfection Test Method | ||
Over the past 4 years the most frequently asked question has been: Which environmental surface disinfectants should I use and why? CRA has answered this question comprehensively twice. First in JADA (Journal of the American Dental Association) Oct 1989: Vol 119: pages 493-505, which reported on 39 different product brands that were current at the time. These data have been updated for the past 3 years and compiled with current brand names. View log reduction counts for disinfectants tested.
Summary of Chart & Conclusions
Of 54 products tested from around the world only 7 passed. The test CRA performed called for the disinfectant to inactivate a resistant bacteria (tuberculosis) and a resistant virus (polio virus) in the absence and presence of human whole blood. The following are the brand names of the products that gave the rapid broad spectrum kill necessary in a clinical treatment area:
| Chlorine based: | 1) Household Clorox (5.25% sodium hypochlorite) diluted with water 50:50 |
| 2) Institutional Clorox (5.25% sodium hypochlorite) diluted with water 50:50 | |
| Ethyl alcohol based: | 1) Biosurf |
| 2) Glen 20 | |
| 3) Lysol I.C. Spray | |
| 4) Lysol II Spray | |
| Surface Wipes: | 1) Indi-Wipes (with Lysol) |
Note: Biosurf only available in Canada, Glen 20 only available in Australia, Lysol IC and Lysol II only available in USA.
Why should I use the 7 brand names listed above and not others?
In a clinical dental setting many types of body materials are aerosolized and splattered routinely. These fluids include saliva, dental plaque, blood, pus, crevicular fluid, etc. Clinically, micro-organisms are always mixed with these body fluids. Therefore, disinfectants should be sought that can kill rapidly, over a broad spectrum of organisms and in the presence of body proteins. Almost all disinfectants fail to meet this goal because the body proteins neutralize their active groups. To overcome this problem, clinicians have been taught for many years to clean before they disinfect. The problem is the clinician performing the cleaning becomes thoroughly exposed to viable organisms that are still infectious after patient treatment. CRA's approach to the testing of disinfectants to be used in the dental office has been to seek chemicals and dilutions that will kill in the presence of heavy human proteins in order to protect the clean-up person and provide the margin of safety necessary to overcome possible errors that occur clinically due to hurry and carelessness.
The information published in JADA (Journal of the American Dental Association), Oct 1989 explains this concept clearly and gives step by step instructions on how to use a disinfectant to protect clinicians from aersolized fluids & micro-organisms.