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IN‐USE TESTS OF DISINFECTANTS
Author(s) -
CHRISTENSEN EBBE AHRENSBURG,
JEPSEN OLE BENT,
KRISTENSEN HANNE,
STEEN GRETHE
Publication year - 1982
Publication title -
acta pathologica microbiologica scandinavica series b: microbiology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.909
H-Index - 88
eISSN - 1600-0463
pISSN - 0108-0180
DOI - 10.1111/j.1699-0463.1982.tb00088.x
Subject(s) - test (biology) , filtration (mathematics) , test method , medicine , statistics , mathematics , biology , paleontology
In two different laboratories three methods were applied for in‐use testing of 400 samples of disinfectants, primarily aldehyde and phenolic solutions, collected in 30 wards at 11 Danish hospitals. The results obtained with the Kelsey‐Maurer test, the membrane filtration technique, and a standardized challenge test were in complete accordance, however, the challenge test revealed a few more inefficient samples, than the two other methods. For routine use at hospital laboratories the choice between the Kelsey‐Maurer test or the modified Kelsey‐Maurer technique using membrane filtration may be guided by the available equipment. The design and the application of a challenge test and pertinent criteria for test strains are discussed. Only about 3 % of the samples failed to pass the tests, but a predominance (10%) of failures among the samples, received as number one in a series, underlines the didactic aspects of in‐use testing. The study demonstrates that suitable methods exist and may be of value when introduced in the local policy of controlling disinfectants.