fließendes

Need some disinfectant advice. A co-worker suggested hydrogen peroxide is better than 70% alcohol for disinfecting small items because "that's what they use in hospitals". I went to the disinfectant entry at wikipedia, and found a claim that hydrogen peroxide is somehow "toxic". Since I know that H2O2 easily reverts to water if left open, I find this unlikely. The wikipedia entry:

Hydrogen peroxide is used in hospitals to disinfect surfaces. It is sometimes mixed with colloidal silver. It is often preferred because it causes far fewer allergic reactions than alternative disinfectants. Also used in the food packaging industry to disinfect foil containers. A 3% solution is also used as an antiseptic. When hydrogen peroxide comes into contact with the catalase enzyme in cells it is broken down into water and a hydroxyl free radical. It is the damage caused by the oxygen free radical that kills bacteria. However, recent studies have shown hydrogen peroxide to be toxic to growing cells as well as bacteria; its use as an antiseptic is no longer recommended.[citation needed]

I'm always needing to sterilize small items and surfaces at work and at home, and the smell of Lysol makes me crazy. So, I'm looking for effective alternatives.

Jennie

It's fine for surfaces and small objects, you don't want to use it as an antiseptic on wounds, as it damages the living cells. Unless you're trying to disinfect fruit flies or something you should be fine.

That's my non-expert understanding.

Berthold

Well, if you use it on items I suppose you won't ingest it. No need to worry about environmental pollution: in typical wastewater the substance is very short-lived.

Incoherent fool

Both alcohol and hydrogen peroxide will kill anything living on the surfaces you disinfect, so it doesn't really matter what you use.

If you really want overkill, apply alcohol to whatever you're disinfecting and then light it on fire.

driver8

Toxicity has more than one meaning. It depends on the exposure route and the organism. If you want to research it further I suggest you google an MSDS for hydrogen peroxide. A good one will provide you with various toxicity data as well as safety info.

Matty

H2O2 is commonly used as a positive control in cell death assays. It introduces a burst of oxidative stress (the release of the hydroxyl radical mentionde in the article) which can have all manner of cytotoxic results on "good" ie desirable cells as well as teh cells you're intentionally trying to kill.

Its activity if left exposed to air for too also long drops rapidly, thats one of the first things we look at if cells seem unexpectedly healthy after a dose.

FWIW Most small item sterilisation here or in any other hospital I've worked in is either in the form of a 70% ethanol spray, or a small irradiator or autoclave.

For the small items the closest you'll probably get to a true hospital aseptic result at home would be to bathe the items in ethanol followed by "autoclaving" in a pressure cooker for a half hour. Thats probably total overkill though.

In short H2o2 and etOH will both do the job as far as surface sterilisation goes, but you have more variables with hydrogen peroxide, and it doesnt last anywhere near as long once teh bottle is opened. And its more expensive. And more dodgy to use in general.

Matt the Medic

We don't use Hydrogen Peroxide to disinfect anything. For equipment, we use a specially formulated wipe that is 42% isopropyl alcohol. Alcohol (isopropyl or ethyl) is a much more effective germicidal agent, in my opinion. Also, it evaporates very fast so it won't leave any sort of residue on objects. I wouldn't suggest using anything but tap water or normal saline in an open wound, however.

Matt

nygreenguy

Listerine and water. My mom used it all the time and it somehow cleaned and smelled great. Not sure on the effectiveness though.

BioBeing

May I ask why? Do you have a defective immune system? A sick infant? Most healthy people have no need to constantly sterilize items, unless they work in a hospital.

javarush

Standard surgical scrub is 7.5% povidone-iodine. For procedure/surgical instruments, hospitals use "high-level" formulas of orthophthalaldehyde (OPA), peracetic acid, or glutaraldehyde. These are not generally available for home use. Hydrogen perioxide might be a secondary ingredient for its mechanical action on serum stains.

"Low-level" disinfectants typically include phenol and ammonium chloride, along with their variant formulas such as amphyl. For example, I know that some ambulance companies clean their cabs with Lysol (tm) amphyl preparations. Common 70% isopropyl alcohol is ok for the occasional wipe but it can be irritating to the skin if over-used; it can soften some adhesives when you don't want it to. At home, I keep some Clorox (tm) in our bail-out/disaster emergency kit for sanitation purposes; the dilution is one part Clorox to 10 parts water. But remember that it's a bleach and can be at least irritating, if not outright corrosive, to the skin and ruin fabrics.

A review of disinfectants is BC CDC report

An oft quoted study regarding the home use of disinfectants: Larson Be sure to take note of the authors' study limitations and conclusions.
Also, Canadian Pediatrics comment . Make note of their recommendations -- there's a point to BioBeing's questions.