Choosing the Right Disinfectant

With so many bugs and super bugs these days how do I choose the right disinfectant. What are the advantages to each. There are several things to remember when choosing a disinfectant. Not all disinfectants kill evey bug that comes into your facility so you have to check the Micro Effacacy Data to ensure that the kill claim for what you are trying to kill is there.

A few different disinfectants are available on the market. There are Hydrogen Peroxides which have great kill times and claims but are extremely hard on surfaces, especially metal ones. There are Quats which require longer dwell times but also have good kill claims. And don't forget cholrine, chorine has a wide spectrum of kill claims, but caution is needed as there are no dilution ratios, it is very unstable, and can be quite dangerous. We have also seen a recent innovation of Chlorine based cleaners that are safe, stable and effective, but these are newer to the market and need to be watched.

When it comes to disinfecting the best practice seems to be. One thoroughly clean areas, two disinfect area with a DIN registered disinfectant, and three when you are in outbreak mode change disinfectants to something that is DIN registered and has a kill claim for the bug you are trying to control.