Hostname: page-component-7c8c6479df-ws8qp Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-03-29T08:25:01.765Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Product Commentary: Housekeeping Products: The Choice Is Yours

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2015

Sue Crow*
Affiliation:
Department of Infection Control, Louisiana State University Medical Center, Shreveport, Louisiana
*
Nurse Epidemiologist, LSU Medical Center, PO Box 33932, Shreveport, LA 71130

Extract

For years, Infection Control Practitioners have been asked to identify the “ultimate” hospital::: disinfectant. Health care personnel seem to want a multipurpose product; one that can he used for handwashing for, instrument disinfection and for cleaning the commode. Simply stated, there is not one product that call successfully do all three. Antiseptic solutions, which are approved by the Food and Drug Administration are for use on skin (ie, handwashing and skirt preparation whereas disinfectants are for use in the inanimate environment and are approved by the Environmental Protection Agency.

There are two classifications of' disinfectants housekeeping disinfectants and instrument disinfectants. Housekeeping disinfectants are generally low-level disinfectants, and quartenary ammonium compounds or phenol-based solutions are the most common. Instrument disinfectants are high-level disinfectants such as glutaraldehydes and chlorine dioxide.

Type
Special Sections
Copyright
Copyright © The Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America 1988

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)