Glutaraldehyde toxicity

Aldehydes, e.g. glutaraldehyde 2% (w/v), 30min at room temperature Reserved for non-corrosive treatment of delicate items Must be freshly activated Not recommended for surface decontamination due to vapour toxicity (see Table 10.5)... 

As is apparent from the above information, there is no ideal disinfectant, antiseptic or preservative. All chemical agents have their limitations either in terms of their antimicrobial activity, resistance to organic matter, stability, incompatibility, irritancy, toxicity or corrosivity. To overcome the limitations of an individual agent, formulations consisting of combinations of agents are available. For example, ethanol has been combined with chlorhexidine and iodine to produce more active preparations. The combination of chlorhexidine and cetrimide is also considered to improve activity. QACs and phenols have been combined with glutaraldehyde so that the same effect can be achieved with lower, less irritant concentrations of glutaraldehyde. Some... 

Bisulfite Adduct. A bisulfite addition complex of an aldehyde or dialdehyde has been proposed for use as an antimicrobial agent [1858,1859]. The complex is less toxic than free glutaraldehyde. In oil wells, its digestion by the sulfate-reducing bacteria releases the free dialdehyde that controls the bacteria. In these ways, a more economic and environmentally safer use of antimicrobial additives is likely. 

BIOCLAIM A process for removing toxic metals from aqueous systems by use of bacteria supported on poly(ethylenimine) glutaraldehyde. 

Animal experiments demonstrate that solutions containing 25% or more glutaraldehyde cause a significant degree of skin irritation and eye injury dilute solutions (5% or less) have low acute toxicity. ... 

Zissu D, Gagnaire F, Bonnet P Nasal and pulmonary toxicity of glutaraldehyde in mice. Toxicol Lett Sh-62, 1994... 

Ballantyne B, Myers RC, Blaszcak DL Influence of alkalinization of glutaraldehyde biocidal solutions on acute toxicity, primary irritancy, and skin sensitization. Vet Hum Toxicol 39(6) 340-346, 1997... 

Fiirst W, Bancrjcc A. (2005) Release of glutaraldehyde from an albumin-glutaraldehyde tissue adhesive causes significant in vitro and in vivo toxicity. Ann. Thorac. Surg. 79, 1522- 8. 

It is worth emphasising the ease of the reaction of amines and amides with aldehydes, since it explains the need to use purified solvents when dealing with amino acids, peptides and proteins, to avoid such side-reactions. Glutaraldehyde has been used for crosslinking proteins (from the earliest days in the leather industry, too) but it is toxic and therefore less in favour in laboratory work now. 

Hester, S. D., Barry, W. T., Zou, F., and Wolf, D. C. (2005). Transcriptomic analysis of F344 rat nasal epithelium suggests that the lack of carcinogenic response to glutaraldehyde is due to its greater toxicity compared to formaldehyde. Toxicol Pathol 33, 415—424. 

Toxicity of glutaraldehyde and oxidized spermine using a plaque reduction assay [4]. 

Gupta et al. prepared crosslinked chitosan microspheres by dropping a polysaccharide solution into a methanolic solution of NaOH and then adding a solution of glutaraldehyde for crosslinking. They demonstrated that the obtained microspheres were non-toxic and biodegradable, and therefore may be considered suitable candidates for oral drug delivery [130]. 

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