Cleaning Quaternary Ammonium Compounds

Quaternary ammonium compounds overview.

Cleaning quaternary ammonium compounds.

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. 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. They are used as conditioning agents to give skin and hair a smooth feel. The basic chemical structure of ammonium is a nitrogen atom with four hydrogen atoms attached around it.

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. For example when making cationic surfactants one of the alkyl groups on. The quaternary ammonium compounds are widely used as disinfectants. There are three ways disinfectants can be applied to surfaces.

In older literature this is often called a menshutkin reaction however modern chemists usually refer to it simply as quaternization. It is often the stuff that allows a product to claim to be antibacterial as they are certified by the epa as pesticides. The final part of this three part article gives tips using quaternary ammonium chloride products. Quats quaternary ammonium compounds are potent disinfectant chemicals commonly found in disinfectant wipes sprays and other household cleaners that are designed to kill germs.

To reduce the threat of quat binding custodial executives must train staff on the pros and cons of various disinfecting techniques. Research has shown quaternary ammonium compounds to effectively kill most bacteria viruses and fungi. The reaction can be used to produce a compound with unequal alkyl chain lengths. Quaternary ammonium compounds are widely used as surface disinfectants and can be found in many household cleaners including disinfectant wipes and sprays.

Quaternary ammonium compounds or quats are chemicals that are used in a variety of different personal care products from spermicidal jellies to disinfectants. Quaternary ammonium compounds are nitrogenous organic compounds used as disinfectants in restaurants hospitals and homes.