Chemical Disinfectants

1. Capable of rapidly killing microorganisms effectively against

Gram positive , Gram negative bacteria
2. Majority of bacterial & mold spores should be killed
3. Should be reasonably stable in presence of organic residues
and effective in presence of hard water salts
4. Non – corrosive and non staining to plant surfaces of any type
5. Non toxic and non irritating to skin and eyes
6. Readily soluble in water and readily rinsable
7. Stable during prolonged storage in concentrated form and
stable during short term storage on dilute form
8. Competitively priced and cost effective
 Classification of Chemical Disnfectants

• Chlorine releasing compounds

• Quaternary ammonium compounds
• Iodophores
• Amphoteric compounds
 Chlorine releasing compounds

• These are widely classified and used as disinfectants

• Types - inorganic and organic

Inorganic chlorine releasing compounds

1) Hypochlorites – HOCl (Hypochlorous acid)
• When present in salt form - OCl will combine with ion
• Naocl – available in commercial form as concentrated liquid
containing 5-14% available chlorine
• Ca(OCl) 2 available in solid or powder form containing 30% of
available chlorine
• NaOCl is – widely used in food industry as general disinfectants and
in CIP system
• Germicidal effect at pH 4 – 5 ( but stable at > 9.5-11 )
• Temperature required is low
• Concentration required is 50 – 200 ppm
• Contact time – 3 and 30 min
2) Chlorine gas – Used in water supplies and fed by a chlorinator
Residual chlorine – 1 and 5 ppm
3) ClO2 - Chlorine dioxide - Retain much of bactericidal
activity in presence of organic matter and achieve at higher pH
( 3 – 13 ); Used in vegetative processing plants; Used in
recycling water system
4) Chlorinated trisodium phosphate
{ 4 [Na3 Po4. 11H2O]NaOCl }
It is expensive
It has 4% of available chlorine
• It is inactivated in presence of organic matter
• Nabromide may be added to enhance bactericidal activity
Organic chlorine compounds
1) Chloramines : Chloramine T, B, Dichloramine T
 These are much stable than inorganic types
 Less irritant
 Less toxic
 Expensive
 Contain 25 – 30% - available chlorine
 Higher pH > 10 – Weaker bactericidal activity
 Release chlorine slowly
 Weakly corrosive
 Rinsing is needed after application
 After combined with alkali detergent to form detergent -
sterilization
2) Sodium dichloroisocyanate :
• Lower available chlorine, Stable, expensive, non – irritant,
chlorine is released slowly at pH 6 – 10 and it is used as
detergent- sanitizer preparation.
3) Dichloro dimethyl hydration – 16% of available chlorine
greatest activity on acid oxidation.
Mode of action of chlorine compounds:
• Cl2 + H2O HOCl + H+ + CH-

• HOCl H+ + OCl-

• HOCl - Highly bactericidal

• Nascent H+ destroy microbes by inhibiting enzymatic reaction
as it is a Strong oxidizing agent
ex: NaOCl + H2O HOCl + NaOH
NaOCl H+ + OCl-

• Cause mutation
• Disrupt spore coat
• Affect permeability barrier
Advantages and disadvantages of hypochlorites
Advantages
• Economical
• Acts quickly
• Not affected by hard water salt
• Harmless residue
• Effective at high dilution
• Active against gram positive and gram negative
• Effective against spores
• Non staining, colourless
• Easy to prepare
• It can be used for water treatment

Disadvantages
o Unstable during storage
o Inactivated by organic components
o Corrosive
o Irritate skin
o Undesirable odour
o Effectiveness decreases with increased pH of solution
o Removes carbon from Rubber parts of equipment
 Factors affecting chlorine action

1. pH
Optimum range – 6 – 8 as hypochlorous acid is released at pH
6 – 8 with contact time of 2 ½ – 5 min

pH Time of killing of spores

10 121 min
9 19 min
8 5 min
6 2 ½ min
2 . Concentration: It depends on substrate
Utensils – 200ppm
Floor clean – 250 – 300ppm
Skin – 50ppm
Drinking water – residual <0.2 ppm
If >0.2ppm – Trichloromethane – Carcinogen
3. Temperature
Chlorine is highly effective at lower temperature
30 – 400C is ideal
At > 400C the stability of chlorine is lost and may be corrosive
also
4) Contact time :
It is important and depends on chlorine compound
Eg: 3 – 30min
It again depends on available chlorine in compound, water
quality, temperature, pH of water etc
5) Organic matter:
chlorine action is depressed in presence of organic matter. If
organic matter is more, chlorine combine with it forming tri or
tetra chloromethane which acts as carcinogen
Chlorimine T is stable chlorine compound in presence of
organic matter and slowly it is released
chlorine dioxide is stable chlorine compound in presence of
organic matter and slowly it is released
 Quarternary ammonium compound
• Are essentially ammonium salts with same or H2 atom in
(NH4) ion substituted by alkyl or aryl groups. The anion is
usually a chloride or bromide

• R1, R2, R3 and R4 – one or more alkyl/aryl group substitutes

for hydrogen and represents halide either Cl or Br

• The larger cation is active part of molecule while anion is

important only in that it can affect availability of QAC

• QAC – commonly used – cetyl trimethyl ammonium bromide

• QAC is active more on Gram positive and less on Gram
negative unless sequestrants are present
• Bacterial spores are relatively resistant, although their out
growth may be prevented, after disinfection surface is treated
with QAC’s and it retains a bacteriostatic film due to the
adsorption of disinfectant on the surface, this film prevents
subsequent growth of residual bacteria.
• Rinsability can be improved by adding a small quantity of non
ionic surfactant to the disinfectant
• QAC retain activity with a wider pH range, most active on
alkaline pH and falls below pH 5
• It is expensive
• Unaffected by organic debris
• Non corrosive , non – irritant with skin
• Stable in dilute solution
• Can be stored for long periods without loss of activity in
concentrated condition
• Hard water salt reduce activity of QAC
• Incompatible sequestering agents cause precipitation of QAC
• Hence detergent used for cleaning should be properly rinsed
before sanitization with QAC
• QAC foam vigorously and not suitable for CIP/ spray systems
• 50 and 500 ppm temperature of 400C and contact time of 1 and
30 min is suitable
• Action :Act on cell membrane causing disintegration and
denaturation of proteins essential for growth and metabolism,
inactivate special enzyme system essential for respiration of
cells
Advantages of QAC:
1. Stable
2. Long shelf life
3. Stable to varied temperatures
4. Effective in alkaline condition
5. Non corrosive
6. Odourless
7. Less effective by organic matter
8. Residual bacteriostatic effect
9. Non irritating to skin
10.Easily dispensed and controlled
11.Control off flavours
12.Non toxic
12. Active against thermodurics
13. Good penetration power
14. Combined with non ionics for detergent/sanitizing agents
Disadvantages
1. Incompatible with anionic agents on detergent and it is
expensive
2. Low activity in hard water
3. Less effective on spores, phages, Gram negative bacteria
4. Need to remove residual film from equipment
5. Problem of foaming during mechanical application
 IODOPHORES

• Consists of soluble mixtures of polyvinyl pyrrolidone with

iodine and a non-ionic surfactant(typically while anionic/
cationic surfactants may also be used).
• Complex is expressed as PVP – I
• Iodine is highly sublimable and hence requires carrier.
• Iodine imparts bactericidal activity and since surfactants are
present it is called detergent sterilizer and detergency depends
on amount of surfactant in the mixture
Properties of Iodophores
• Iodophores are less affected by pH changes compared to
QAC
• Acid is added to lower pH of solution or iodophores are
active at pH of 3 – 5 and phosphoric acid buffers in this range
• Expensive and not used widely
• Non corrosive, non irritating, non toxic and have little smell
and require thorough rinsing after use
• Some plastic materials / rubber absorb iodine and discolour
them over long contact time and transfer taint to foods
• Iodophores can not be used for cleaning/ sterilizing
equipment used for processing of starch foods as iodine form
purple with starch
• Stable in concentrated form over long periods of storage at
high ambient temperature with little loss of activity
8. Iodophores maintain a reasonable activity in the presence of
organic wastes
9. Phosphoric acid present in iodophores is useful in control of
milk stone
10. In CIP system foaming is possible hence low foaming
surfactant should be incorporated in formulation used for
this purpose
11. Operating temperature of upto 500C can be employed with
iodine concentration varying between 10 and 100 ppm
 Mechanism of action of Iodophores

1. Dissociation of iodine from surfactant is responsible for

bactericidal action
2. Acts through halogenation of cellular proteins and oxidation
of sulphydryl groups of proteins ( enzymes )
3. Less effective on spores and phages compared to chlorine
 Amphoteric compounds

1. Exists as cation or anion depending on pH of solution and in cationic

state these compounds are bactericidally active
2. More expensive than other disinfectants
3. Are not particularly powerful bactericides, to improve their
efficiency can be blended with QAC’s
4. They are not affected by organic matter or by water hardener
5. Non corrosive, non toxic, odourless
6. Stable in dilute form for lengthy periods
7. They find to foam
8. Due to high cost and low bactericidal activity not widely used in
food industry
Eg:  - oxy propionic imidazole
 Phenolic compounds

1. Showing bactericidal property

2. Used as general purpose disinfectant
3. Phenolics are not used for disinfecting operation on food
plant because of their strong odours and transmit off flavours
to foods
4. 2 – 5 % is effective
5. Mode of action:
 Damage to cell membrane
 precipitation of cell protein
 Inactivation of enzymes
 Leakage of amino acid from cells
 Gaseous disinfectants
• Are those applicable in vapour state.
• The vapour is a powerful disinfectant and deodorant,
• Surface disinfection of rooms, fulfils all requirements when used in sufficient
amount . It acts more rapidly than equal quantities of sulphurous acid.
• Alkylating agents such as formaldehyde, ethylene oxide, and propylene oxide
are broad-spectrum biocides active against bacteria, viruses, and fungi,
including spores.
• Ethylene and propylene oxides are highly reactive gaseous fumigants used for
sterilizing colds stores, ripening of fruits (ethylene oxide), animal feed,
human food, surgical equipment that cannot be autoclaved (eg, endoscopes,
gloves, syringes, catheters, tubing, implantable devices), laboratory
equipment, etc.
• Both are noncorrosive.
• However, ethylene oxide has better penetrability than propylene oxide and,
therefore, is more commonly used.
• For this application, ethylene oxide is mixed with chlorofluorocarbons or
carbon dioxide and sold in gas cylinders
• .Other gaseous disinfectants (eg, formaldehyde, sulfur dioxide,
methylbromide) have been used infrequently because of their toxic or
corrosive properties.
 Detergent - sterilizers

• Combination of compatible and complementary ingredients of

detergents and disinfectant so that cleaning and disinfection can be
performed in a single operation. They contain sequestering agents
and buffers, 2 surfactants in a single formulation.
• They are ideal against a variety of soil and broad spectrum of
microorganisms,
• Expensive
• It can be used where soiling is light and where low temperature
cleaning is desired.
• Hazardous bacteria are killed by detergent sterilizing agent but if
only detergent is used , such bacteria is discharged on the waste
• Use of detergent – sterilizer do not allow microorganisms to
accumulate
 Commonly used detergent - sterilizer

Detergent Disinfectant

Inorganic alkalis + HOCl

+ Organic chlorine
+ QAC
Inorganic acid + Non ionic surfactant
+Iodophores
Anionic surfactant + Organic chlorine
+ QAC
+ Iodophores