One of the most frequently asked questions regarding the effects
of cleaning is whether cleaning products kill germs, or in what
extent micro-organisms can be aniquilated by these products. The
misconception comes from the amount of disinformation arriving
to us by a variety of media.
Even some cleaning products advertising claim that the products
kill bacteria, or germs, or whatever. By doing a quick research
on the Internet I have found sentences like:
"Most soap will adequately kill germs" .... This concept is
clearly
WRONG!
The right sentence would be:
Most soap will adequately remove
germs. Soap isn't designed to kill bacteria.
Disinfectants contain antimicrobial agents, such as pine oil,
sodium hypochlorite, quaternary ammonium compounds or phenols,
which kill bacteria and viruses on surfaces. A surface should be
free of heavy soil for effective disinfection.
Disinfectant cleaners contain surfactants and builders to remove
soil in addition to antimicrobial agents to kill germs.
Therefore, they are effective at cleaning surfaces as well as
killing germs. Label instructions must be followed to assure
disinfectancy.
In order to make disinfectancy claims, disinfectant products
must be tested for efficacy and registered with the
Environmental Protection Agency.
Disinfection: treatment to destroy harmful micro-organisms.
Disinfectant: An agent, such as heat, radiation, or a chemical,
that destroys, neutralizes, or inhibits the growth of
disease-carrying micro-organisms. Disinfection reduces the
number of harmful bacteria to safe levels.
Cleaning: the act of making something clean. Cleaning means the
removal of soil, food residue, dirt, greases and other unwanted
materials. In order to clean properly, energy has to be applied
in the form of heat energy (hot water or steam), chemical energy
(detergents) or physical energy (manual labor). Usually a
combination of two or more forms of energy is used.
Disinfectants do not have cleaning properties. It is
necessary to clean items or surfaces before using disinfectants,
mainly because disinfectants are inhibited and neutralized in
the presence of organic substances. Even more, many people go
wrong when cleaning as they do not carry out disinfection
properly or they re-contaminate disinfected surfaces, for
example by using dirty cloths to rinse.
Antibacterial cleaning products abound, from soaps and lotions
to kitchen and bathroom cleaners. A recent survey has shown that
more than 75% of all liquid hand soaps and nearly 30% of bar
soaps for sale nationally contain antibacterial agents. This may
seem like good news, but recent research has suggested that some
antibacterial agents contained in soaps may facilitate the
emergence of antibiotic-resistant bacteria.
Not all products are equal. Some products contain an actual
antibiotic, while other products such as household cleaners
contain chemicals, most often bleach or quaternary ammonium
compounds that kill bacteria but don't necessarily select for
multi-resistant germs.
Reading the product label to determine the active ingredient
will give you an idea of the directions and of the safety
precautions as well. While most people may guess that "active
ingredients" are the things that make the product do its job,
like killing germs or weeds or disinfecting surfaces, have you
ever wondered what "inert" or "other ingredients" are? They
aren't just water, and they don't just sit there and do nothing.
They may include solvents that dissolve other additives;
emulsifiers, which keep other ingredients suspended in a liquid
so that they will apply evenly; fragrances and perfumes, to make
them smell more attractive; and a host of other things, like
surfactants and detergents, designed to make the product stay
where you put it and work better when it is applied.
Those "other ingredients" can be part of the reason that a
product carries a signal word to encourage you to use it with
care, and some of the first aid or precautionary language may be
there to help prevent those ingredients from contributing to
risk of injury or damage.
About the author:
Jose Rossello, M.D., Ph.D., Specialist in Preventive Medicine
and Public Health. Promotes the use of natural and safe cleaning
products. CEO,
Natural
Cleaning">http://goodworkathome.com">Natural
Cleaning Products
