Antiseptics testing

In all antiseptic testing, it is recognized that skin and mucous membranes to which products ate appHed cannot be disinfected or sterilized but it is possible to significantly reduce the population of transient and resident pathogenic bacterial flora. AH in vivo test methods requite a deterrnination of the bacteria on the skin before and after treatment. Because of the normal variation in bacterial population of the skin of different people, a number of people must be tested in order to make a statistical analysis of the results. Different parts of the body are used for different tests. In aH of the tests the details of the protocol ate extremely important and must be strictly adhered to in order to obtain reproducible results. 

TainterML, Cutting WC. 1933b. Miscellaneous actions of dinitrophenol. Repeated administrations, antidotes, fatal doses, antiseptic tests and actions of some isomers. J Pharmacol Exp Ther 49 187-209. 

RA Tupker, J Schuur, PJ Coenraads. Irritancy of antiseptics tested by repeated open exposure on the human skin, evaluated by non-invasive methods. Contact Derm 37 213-217, 1997. 

Iodine. Iodine has been important for many years, primarily as an antiseptic (see Iodine and iodine compounds). In the American Civil War physicians used it to treat battie wounds. Elemental iodine is not very soluble in water, but dissolves readily when sodium iodide is added, forming triiodide + I I Iodine may thus be used as an aqueous solution but it has generally been used as a tincture of 2% iodine in 70% alcohol. Tests on... 

Alcohols, particularly ethanol [64-17-5] and 2-propanol [67-63-9] are important disinfectants and antiseptics. In the aUphatic series of straight-chain alcohols, the antimicrobial activity increases with increasing molecular weight up to a maximum, depending on the organism tested. For Staphylococcus aureus the maximum activity occurs using amyl alcohol [71-41-0], for Salmonella typhosa, octyl alcohol [111-87-5], CgH gO (43) ioT Mycobacterium tuberculosis... 

Whereas tests (186) indicated that ampholytes were effective in skin cleansing for preoperative use, for wound cleansing, and as an antiseptic in the oral cavity (187), as well as other medical appHcations, the food and beverage industries have proved to be the principal employers of these compounds. Ampholytes are used as sanitizers and disinfectants, not as food preservatives. Low toxicity, absence of skin irritation, and noncorrosiveness, along with antimicrobial activity, has given ampholytes acceptance in dairies, meat plants, and the brewing and soft drink industries. These disinfectants have been manufactured and distributed in Europe and Japan, but not in the United States. 

A simple, quahtative method is the skin stripping technique (322) which strips off a sampling from the skin with ceUophane tape. Methods have been developed (330,331) in which organisms on the hands ate transferred to gloves and sampled. These methods assess both immediate and persistent effects of antiseptics. In aH tests with antiseptics, suitable neutralizing chemicals for the antiseptics employed are necessary so that surviving bacteria may be recovered and counted. Some of these are lecithin, Lubrol W, Polysorbate, and sodium thiosulfate (322). 

Tests have been developed that test different products for their effectiveness as a healthcare personnel handwash (327) evaluate hand disinfectants for use in surgery (333) determine the effectiveness of a surgical hand scmb, ie, the glove juice test (311,329) evaluate antiseptics for the oral cavity to be used in mouthwashes (334,335) and test antiseptics for the periurethral area and appHcation to catheters (336,337). A method used for a test comparing four antiseptic products was adopted as recommended practice by the Association of Practitioners of Infection Control (338). 

Mice are utilized for testing antiseptics for appHcation to cuts, wounds, and incisions (339). The test bacteria, type 1 pneumococcus and hemolytic streptococcus, ate appHed to the taHs of anaesthetized mice. The tip of the taH is then dipped into the antiseptic for 2 min, after which one-half inch of the taH is removed and inserted into the peritoneal cavity and the incision is closed. If after 10 days the animals survive, the product is considered satisfactory for use as a skin antiseptic. The blood of dead animals is sampled and streaked on blood agar for confirmation of infection from the test bacteria as the cause of death. Since lack of toxicity is another requirement of a product to be appHed to wounds, this test has been combined with a toxicity test (340). 

Reviews of antiseptics for skin and wound cleansers (341), a review of methods for testing antiseptics (329), and an overaH review of antiseptics and their testing methods (342) ate avaHable. 

Self-Test 4.11B The Codex Ebers, an Egyptian medical papyrus, describes the use of garlic as an antiseptic. Chemists today have verified that the oxide of diallyl disulfide... 

Phenol no longer plays any significant role as an antibacterial agent. It is of historical interest, since it was introduced by Lister in 1867 as an antiseptic and has been used as a standard for comparison with other disinfectants, which are then given a phenol coefficient in tests such as the Rideal-Walker test. 

In 1989 the CEN/TC 216 (figure 1) was astablished to produce harmonized European test methods for disinfectants and antiseptics used in medicine, veterinary and food hygiene. 

Development of standard test methods for estimating chemical disinfectants and antiseptics... 

Unlike mass transport across membranes, which relates to chemical structure in predictable ways, the potencies of drugs as seen in pharmacological, pharmacodynamic, or other tests are highly structurally specific within a class of drugs and are without commonality across classes. A drug s activity involves a complex merging of these separate structural influences, with bioavailability always one of the concerns. Such concern is minimal when a truly superficial effect is involved, however. For example, the most potent antiseptic as measured in the test tube is likely to have... 

Methenamine mandelate, 1 g four times daily, or methen-amine hippurate, 1 g twice daily by mouth (children, 50 mg/kg/d or 30 mg/kg/d, respectively), is used only as a urinary antiseptic to suppress, not treat, urinary tract infection. Acidifying agents (eg, ascorbic acid, 4-12 g/d) may be given to lower urinary pH below 5.5. Sulfonamides should not be given at the same time because they may form an insoluble compound with the formaldehyde released by methenamine. Persons taking methenamine mandelate may exhibit falsely elevated tests for catecholamine metabolites. 

Self-Test F.1B The compound ct-pinene, a natural antiseptic found in the resin of the pinon tree, has been used since ancient times by Zuni healers. A 7.50-g sample of ct-pinene contains 6.61 g carbon and 0.89 g hydrogen. What are the mass percentages of carbon and hydrogen in ct-pinene ... 

Detection and Estimation of Preservatives.—The antiseptics commonly tested for in meat are formaldehyde, formic acid, boric acid and fluorides. The analytical methods used for the detection of these and other antiseptics are given later (see Sausages). 

Tests for Antiseptics.—These are carried out as for sausages (see p. 6). Particular attention is to be paid to the tests for boric acid, salicylic add, formaldehyde and sulphur dioxide, which are more likely than other preservatives to be present in meat extracts. 

With these the analysis has the same object as with sausages and meat extracts, namely, the determination of the nutritive value and the detection of any adulteration or change. The determinations made, either separatdy on the liquid and meat or on the product as it stands, are those of the water, ash, fat, nitrogen, aridity of the fat, horseflesh, starch, colouring matters and antiseptics, the methods given under sausages being followed. In this case special importance" attaches also to the examination of the external characters of the tin and to the test for metals. 

Preservatives and Antiseptics.—The most common preservatives are tested for as follows ... 

Pure, sound milk should have the normal colour, taste and smell it should contain no extraneous substances, antiseptics or other preservative agents and should contain no pathogenic micro-organisms, which are detectable by bacteriological examination and by the behaviour towards the reductase test (see 10. ). 

Pasteurised or sterilised milk is recognised by the tests already given (p. 29) it has the same composition as natural milk, and should not contain antiseptics or other preservative agents. 

Condensed milk is usually sold in soldered tins. The analysis should be made immediately after opening, since such products readily change, especially when little or np sugar has been added. Of special importance are tests for antiseptics and other preservatives (see Milk, No. 11) and heavy metals, and bacteriological examination. 

These are fruits impregnated and coated with sugar and are prepared by immersion and boiling in successive syrups of gradually increasing concentration. In some cases the amount and composition of the ash are determined, and tests made for injurious metals and for sweetening, antiseptic and colouring materials (see Preserves). 

Antiseptics.—These—particularly sulphurous, boric and salicylic acids and formaldehyde—are tested for as in wine and beer (q.v.). 

A 48-year-old woman developed palpitation and insomnia (52). The clinical history, physical examination, and laboratory tests supported hyperthyroidism. Since July 1994 she had been combating constipation by improper use of an iodine-containing antiseptic cream for external use only. She had inserted povidone-iodine into her rectum by means of a cannula. 

A number of zinc compounds with organic constituents (e.g., zinc salts of organic acids) have therapeutic uses. These include antidandruff zinc pyridinethione, antifungal zinc undecylenate used to treat athlete s foot, zinc stearate and palmitate (zinc soap), and antibacterial zinc bacitracin. Zinc naphthenate is used as a low-toxicity wood preservative, and zinc phenolsulfonate has insecticidal properties and was once used as an intestinal antiseptic. The inhalation of zinc soaps by infants has been known to cause acute fatal pneumonitis characterized by lung lesions similar to, but more serious than, those caused by talc. Zinc pyridine thione (zinc 2-pyridinethiol-l-oxide) has been shown to cause retinal detachment and blindness in dogs this is an apparently species-specific effect because laboratory tests at the same and even much higher dosages in monkeys and rodents do not show the same effect. 

Pitten, F.A., Wemer, H.P., and Kramer, A., A standardized test to assess the impact of different organic challenges on the antimicrobial activity of antiseptics../. Hosp. Infect. 55, 108-115, 2003. 

Silver nitrate, AgN03, can be used to test for the presence of halide ions in solution. It combines with the halide ions to form a silver halide precipitate. In medicine, it is used as an antiseptic and an antibacterial agent. Silver nitrate drops are placed in the eyes of newborn babies to protect them against an eye disease. 

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