Quaternary Ammonium Compounds Cleaning Products

Quaternary ammonium compounds overview.

Quaternary ammonium compounds cleaning products.

The quaternary ammonium compounds are widely used as disinfectants. It is often the stuff that allows a product to claim to be antibacterial as they are certified by the epa as pesticides. They are used as conditioning agents to give skin and hair a smooth feel. Health care associated infections have been reported from contaminated quaternary ammonium compounds used to disinfect patient care supplies or equipment such as cystoscopes or cardiac catheters 741 742.

Quaternary ammonium compounds are prepared by the alkylation of tertiary amines with a halocarbon. The reaction can be used to produce a compound with unequal alkyl chain lengths. Mcdonnell in encyclopedia of microbiology third edition 2009. 1 quaternary ammonium compounds in cleaning products this information sheet reviews the recognition assessment and treatment of possible adverse health effects of prod ucts containing alkyl dimethyl benzyl ammonium chlorides and several other quaternary ammonium compounds qacs or quats used in cleaning and disinfection.

Quaternary ammonium compounds are widely used as surface disinfectants and can be found in many household cleaners including disinfectant wipes and sprays. These include chemicals such as benzalkonium chloride alkyl dimethyl benzyl ammonium chloride and dodecyl dimethyl ammonium chloride as active ingredients. Quaternary ammonium compounds qacs or quats are contained in many sanitizing wipes sprays and other household cleaners intended for killing germs. Quaternary ammonium compounds or quats are chemicals that are used in a variety of different personal care products from spermicidal jellies to disinfectants.

The final part of this three part article gives tips using quaternary ammonium chloride products. Quaternary ammonium compounds are nitrogenous organic compounds used as disinfectants in restaurants hospitals and homes. Quaternary ammonium compounds commonly known as quats or qacs are cationic surfactants surface active agents that combine bactericidal and virucidal generally only enveloped viruses activity with good detergency and therefore cleaning ability. There are three ways disinfectants can be applied to surfaces.

The basic chemical structure of ammonium is a nitrogen atom with four hydrogen atoms attached around it. Although other surfactant types such as. For example when making cationic surfactants one of the alkyl groups on. To reduce the threat of quat binding custodial executives must train staff on the pros and cons of various disinfecting techniques.