Author Lani Ritchey
CALIFORNIA CHINS
HOW TO DISINFECT WITHOUT
KILLING YOU AND YOUR ANIMALS
Why disinfect anything in the first place? Well, you could be preventing
disease from getting into your facilities or trying to stop a disease from
wiping out all your animals or at least making their life miserable. It could
be for public health reasons-whatever is sickening or killing your animals
could be deadly to you. Or you are having a spring/fall cleaning fit! In any
case, the trick to is disinfect without killing your animals and yourself and
doing it in a practical, feasible, and cost effective manner.
You have all heard about the problem of antibiotic resistant bacteria.
Unfortunateley
the organisms in your facility have also learned how to survive cleaning and
disinfecting jobs by developing resistance to the chemicals used in cleaning
and sanitizing. This is germ warfare going on in front of you. Some of the
organisms keep other populations in check. Some bacteria will "bloom" right
after a cleaning and you could end up with a worst problem than you started
with.
Disinfectants do not discriminate between beneficial or pathogenic organisms.
That can leave you and your animals wide open for another infectious agent.
There is no such thing as the perfect or best disinfectant. It will depend on
each person, each facility,and what must be done before, during and afterwards.
A glossary of terms:
ANTISEPTICS are substances that inhibit or destroy microorganisms on living
tissue. They are regulated by the Food and Drug Administration. They are
considered pharmaceutical.
BIOCIDES are compounds that kill all living organisms. They are regulated by
the EPA.
DETERGENTS are compounds that have a cleaning and penetrating characterisitc in
the presence of liquid. That is why they clean your laundry. Some
disinfectants have detergent properties.
DISINFECTANTS are chemicals used on surfaces that kill, inactivates, destroys
or inhibits many but not all disease organisms. Disinfectants are capable of
destroying living cells in humans, other animals and plants. They are TOXIC at various
levels of concentration. They are regulated under the Pesticide Control Act by
the Environmental Proterction Agency.
GERMICIDES, bactericide, virucide, fungicide and sporicide are compounds that
destroy bacteria, viruses, fungi and spores. Some are pesticides are
regulated by the EPAand others may be regulated by the FDA . Regulation can
be messy.
SANITIZERS reduce the number of organisms to what is considered a safe level.
(Safe by whose judgement?) These products are regulated by the EPA.
STERILIZERS are physical or chemical means that destroy all forms of life. (I
guess that means a nuclear bomb is a sterilizer, a biocide, and a disinfectant.
A bit of an over kill.) Depending on how, what and where a sterilizer is used,
the product can regulated by FDA and/or EPA .
SURFACTANTS are chemical compounds that aid in the presence of liquid wetting,
spreading on the surface and enhancing cleaning . Surfactants or surface
active agents are commonly used in laundry products, shampoos etc.
HOW TO READ A PRODUCT LABEL
On your cleaning product's label, you should see a series of numbers and
letters. All disinfectants and pesticides sold in the United States must have
an EPA Rgistration Number and
EPA Establishment Number on the label. If they don't have them, don't buy
them. !
A sample of an EPA Registration Number EPA REG.NO. 12345-123-1234
12345 EPA number for formula registrant
123 Product identification number
1234 Designates EPA number of company who is on the label
A sample of an EPA Establishment Number EPA Est. No. 1234-ND-1
1234 Product manufacturer's assigned number
ND Manufacturer's factory location by state
1 Plant number
FACTORS AFFECTING PERFORMANCE
TEMPERATURE
Temperature at use includes air and water temperature. Certain chemicals are
not as effective when temperatures drop or rise above a certain level. The
best range of temperature is 65-120 F (18-48C). Chlorine and iodine compounds
are volatile and their concentration will dispate at higher temperatures.
Chlorine becomes ineffective at colder temperatures. You can raise the amounts
of active ingredients to compensate for poor cleaning techniques or shorter
contact time but you increase the risk of damaging equipment and living
tissue. Common chlorine compounds are sodium hypochlorite and Chloramine T
and common chlorine bleaches. The iodophores or iodine compounds are Betadine,
Iofec, iodine, Losan and Pividone.
Formaldehyde is most effective at 140 F (60C) but very dangerous to you and
equipment. It is commonly known as the "pickling solution" that is used to
preserve biological specimens ( and embalm bodies) found in science and
research labs. The aldehyde group of cleaning compounds need a relative air
humidity>65 % maintained during the cleaning time. Formaldehyde should only be
used by professional cleaners ( or embalmers !). It is not for average
spring/fall cleaners. Your aldehyde cleaners are Formalin, formaldehyde, and
glutaraldhyde.
SURFACE TO BE CLEANED
NOTE - the effectivess of a cleaning product also depends on the surface that
needs to be cleaned. Obviously a clean non-porous surface will disinfect much
better than a dirty or a porous surface. Remember disinfection is not
cleaning. Disinfection is the step beyond cleaning. So it is important to
clean all dirt and biofilms off things before you disinfect.
A good detergent or soap ,lots of elbow grease, hot water and a scrub
brush/broom will be necessary. The next thing is to choose the right
disinfectant for the right surface. Or you may have a rude shock if something
changes color or falls apart.
Chlorine and peroxide compounds are not compatible with most metal surfaces
(except for stainless steel), textiles, or leather. Peroxide compounds are
used to bleach paper, hair and textiles. Hydrogen peroxide is an old friend
to many of us. Imagine it foaming up and eating away (just like it does on
cuts and scraps) on something. Vikron is a peroxide compound.
You should never use phenols, peroxides and lye on bricks, leather or certain
dyes. Your phenols and cresols include LpH, Environ, Vesphene, Biophene, and
Lysol. . Yes, the same Lysol used in kitchens and bathrooms. The phenol
compounds are known to cause health problems in kittens and cats. Who knows
about small rodents?
PH AND WATER HARDNESS
The pH of the water and hardness can effect how a compound will go into
solution. If it precipitates to the bottom of your container, you have a
problem. The EPA tests for efficiency of disinfectants when mixed with hard
water. The rating will be on the product label.
WHEN THINGS GO BOOM ! ( OR HOW TO GAS YOURSELF !)
NEVER NEVER MIX YOUR CHEMICALS TOGETHER unless the manufacturers say they can
be mixed together. You have all heard about the toilets that blow up because
somebody mixed this and that in the toilet bowl. It is not a joke. When you
start playing amauter chemist, things can get very interesting.
Don't mix bleach with an acid- containing toilet bowl cleaner, you get deadly
chlorine gas. If you mix the bleach with an ammonia-based cleaning agent, you
get monochloramine and dichloramine gases. You may not go boom but gasping,
wheezing and living with an oxygen bottle for the rest of your life is not fun
!
The other thing is don't set the animal unit on fire. Rabbit people are known
to use a blow torch and water to steam clean their cages. Too much blow torch
and you have a barn fire. Too little torch doesn't steam the water. Fire is
an efffective disinfectant, it will sterilize most surfaces (if there are any
left) but it hard to control. I don't recommend fire as a disinfectant. Steam
is great for steriizing things but again it is not easy to get the quanities
needed to do the job right.
The another thing is don't breathe in these disinfectants and wear proper
protective clothing. Chlorine bleach and Betadine are perhaps the safest
disinfectants to use. BUT even they can cause health problems !!!!!
One of the most common products that has a nasty potential for adverse
reactions is the common household bleach. The active ingredient in most bleach
products , water treatment chemicals and swimming pool chemicals is sodium
hypochlorite. The sodium hypochlorite products can range in legal
concentrations from 3% to 6% with the pH level up to 11.0 which is very
alkaline. Bleaches may also contain silicate (15-17%) and sodium carbonate
(60% of solution) with a very alkaline pH of 10.5. Remember alkaline products
can be very corrosive to skin and other living tissue.
Bleaches work by reacting with atmospheric carbon dioxide producing
hypochlorous acid
which decomposes to oxygen free radicals. The oxygen free radicals are
believed to be responsible for the bleaching and disinfecting activity. They
are certainly responsible for the toxic effest associated with bleach ( oxygen
free radicals are suspected of being cancer causing agents in humans).
Very alkaline solutions (pH greater than 7) can cause damage just by being
corrosive . If you get a splash of a very alkaline bleach on your skin - rinse,
rinse, and rinse some more with water and get to a medical facility. You can
get badly burned tissue from bleach solution and fumes. If you inhale sodium
hypochlorite fumes, you can develop a sore throat, cough, wheezing, shortness
of breath and pulmonary edema. Pulmonary edema can kill you !!! Chlorine gas
reacts with water-containing tissues( eyes, mouth and lungs for starters) to
produce hypochlorous acid and oxygen free radicals. If you are exposed to
chlorine gas, get to fresh air , remove your clothing and start rinsing your
skin.
The gas can get trapped in the clothes and cause skin injury.
As for drinking household bleach, besides being a very stupid to kill yourself,
your health problems are: oral, esophageal and gastric burns as well as nausea,
vomiting, diarrhea and abdominal pain. Remember- this was a product that is
considered fairly "safe" to use by non-professial cleaning staff.
Other alkaline cleaning products are automatic dish washing detergents( sodium
tripolyphosphate or TSP, soidum metasilicate, sodium silicate or water glass,
sodium carbonate. Oven cleaners contain sodium hydroxide. Which is why they
recommend wearing heavy rubber gloves when cleaning your oven ! Alkaline
products cause their damage by solubilizing skin fats and proteins. This helps
the akaline products burn deeper that acid burns.
Acid products that could be useful for various problems in barns-metal cleaners
and drain cleaners have some rather interesting health problems by
themselves,not too mention when combined with cleaning products. Take toilet
bowl cleaners- they can made from sulfuric acid( same stuff in car batteries),
hydrochloric acid, oxalic acid or sodium bisulfate. Their concentrations can
range from 2-100%- that's quite a range of corrosive potential.
Your drain cleaners are also very corrosive(which is why you run water down the
drain afterwards). Drain cleaners may be sulfuric acid or sodium hydroxide.
Metal cleaners and anti-rust compounds can be even more deadly- hydrofluoric
acid, phosphoric acid, oxalic acid, hydrochloric acid, sulfuric acid or chromic
acid.
The acids except for hydrofluoric acid, cause nasty burns when spilled on
living tissue.
Yes, they can kill if inhaled or breathed into the lungs but generally the
chemical burns are painful but not deadly. Hydrofluoric acid is the exception,
it can kill with just a few drops on living tissue. The fluoride ion creates
deadly havoc in the body by binding calcium and magnesium in the tiisues and
blood which creates a cascade of ever worsing problems for the patient. The
hydrogen ion binds to enyzmes that neutralize acids and keep the pH in out
blood and tissues stable. Bad news all around for the patient.
The medical treatment starts with flushing the burn area with water and
applying calcium gluconate powder and surgical jelly to the burn site. If
the calcium depletion continues, the delicate balance of electrolytes that
keeps the body functioning will be affected which will endanger the heart. If
the situation worsens, the docters will adminster a massive dose of calcium
compounds directly into the vein or artery about the initial burn. All this
can be caused by a few drops of hydrofluoric acid ! BE VERY CAREFUL WHEN
HANDLING HYDROFLUORIC ACID !!!!!!!!
So read the labels very carefully and always use the right product for the
right job
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Futher reading and references
Brown,Jeremy DISCOVER Magazine April 1996 pg 88 and 90
VITAL SIGNS- AN INVISIBLE FIRE
Daya, Mohamud,M.D. CLEANING & MAINTENANCE MANAGEMENT Magazine March 1996
Page 63-68 DANGEROUS CHEMICALS IN YOUR CLOSET-Bleach, acids and alkaline-based
products can injure as they clean
Gerba, Charles, M.D. SERVICES Magazine March 1996 Pages 49 & 50
MICROORGANISMS IN PUBLIC WASHROOMS
Opitz, H. Micheal POULTRY DIGEST Magazine August 1996 Pages 26-31
DISINFECTING POULTRY HOUSES REQUIRES ATTENTION TO DETAILS
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