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Prevention of Microbial Contamination during Manufacturing
Published in Philip A. Geis, Cosmetic Microbiology, 2020
Quaternary ammonium compounds consist of cationic surfactants. They are most frequently used in combination with a nonionic detergent as a disinfectant-detergent or detergent-sanitizer. However, nonionic detergents usually do not clean as good as the more caustic cationic detergents. Quaternary ammonium compounds are more bactericidal against non-spore-forming Gram-positive bacteria, less active against Gram-negative bacteria and are not sporicidal, but are sporostatic (inhibitory to spore germination or outgrowth) (76,85,86) The typical use concentration for a quaternary ammonium compound sanitizer is 200 ppm. The advantages are that they can clean and deodorize at the same time, are most effective at neutral or slightly alkaline pHs, are odorless and are very stable. The disadvantages are that they are not sporicidal, their antimicrobial activity can be inactivated by anionic cleaners, use of hard water for preparing use concentrations will adversely affect the antimicrobial activity, rinsing is required to remove equipment surface residues and are less effective against pseudomonads (87,88).
Skin Testing in Drug Hypersensitivity
Published in Kirsti Kauppinen, Kristiina Alanko, Matti Hannuksela, Howard Maibach, Skin Reactions to Drugs, 2020
The tests are read according to the criteria of the International Contact Dermatitis Research Group (ICDRG) (Table 1).5 The criteria have been criticized because they take a position on the significance of the reactions and they do not differentiate between the types of irritant reactions, some of which may be indistinguishable from allergic ones. An irritant reaction is usually positive on D2 and negative on D4. However, irritant reactions from some substances, e.g., quaternary ammonium compounds, increase in intensity and size for up to 4 to 5 days. The reader’s experience, testing with a dilution series, and the use of the repeated open application test (ROAT) procedure7 and other use tests help in the evaluation of patch test results. A positive reaction in ROAT is not always a sign of delayed allergy because irritant substances, at least a popular dish washing liquid,8 may cause cumulative irritant contact dermatitis in ROAT resembling allergic contact dermatitis, as also do aqueous sodium lauryl sulfate and benzalkonium chloride in a cream base (unpublished personal observations).
Cationic Surfactants and Quaternary Derivatives for Hair and Skin Care
Published in Randy Schueller, Perry Romanowski, Conditioning Agents for Hair and Skin, 2020
Matthew F. Jurczyk, David T. Floyd, Burghard H. Grüning
The presence of an unreacted alkylating agent and a free amine are undesirable. To eliminate free amine, manufacturers acidify their product. This results in the formation of an odorless amine salt. It is important to recognize that since commercial quaternary ammonium compounds always contain amine salts, any formulation at alkaline pH conditions would result in odor, emulsion instability, and irritation problems stemming from reconversion of the amine salt to its free amine form. Development chemists must therefore maintain acidic pH conditions in their formulas (23).
Longevity of hand sanitisers on fingers
Published in Clinical and Experimental Optometry, 2023
Parthasarathi Kalaiselvan, Muhammad Yasir, Ajay Kumar Vijay, Mark DP Willcox, Shyam Tummanapalli
The concentration of each antimicrobial ingredient in the hand sanitisers was not available in the literature or from the manufacturers. However, it is known that quaternary ammonium compounds can be toxic by disrupting mitochondrial function, altering oestrogen signalling and inhibiting cholesterol synthesis in mammalian cells in laboratory culture.32,33 Certain quaternary ammonium compounds can also be toxic or induce an inflammatory response from cells of the ocular surface.34 Therefore, it is likely that manufacturers need to balance antimicrobial activity with toxicity when formulating hand sanitisers containing quaternary ammonium compounds. Capric acid is a naturally occurring fatty acid and is on the Federal Drug Administration’s list of substances that are ‘generally regarded as safe’ (https://www.fda.gov/food/food-additives-petitions/food-additive-status-list#ftnD). This may mean that higher concentrations can be used to give maximum antimicrobial effect whilst maintaining low toxicity.
Cleaning agent usage in healthcare professionals and relationship to lung and skin symptoms
Published in Journal of Asthma, 2022
Ameth N. Garrido, Ronald House, Joshua C. Lipszyc, Gary M. Liss, Dorothy Linn Holness, Susan M. Tarlo
We did not find an association between diagnosed asthma and exposure to cleaning agents based on job title despite the fact that previous studies have suggested a significant association with the use of cleaning agents and disinfectants (22,26,33). Our absence of work tasks and cleaning agents positively associated with asthma is likely attributed to our limited study population size. We only had 36 asthmatic participants. However, another recent study that followed a cohort of nurses prospectively, had findings similar to ours, with asthma incidence not found to be associated with cleaning agents or wet work (30). The authors hypothesized that the lack of a positive association was due to the fact that the nurses surveyed were near the end of their careers and may have been a survival cohort with less susceptibility to respiratory effects from irritant exposure (30). The cross-sectional nature of our study may have produced a similar selection bias. As well, different exposure levels may have influenced findings in different studies. For example, Gonzalez et al. reported an approximately 7.5 fold increased risk of asthma due to exposure to quaternary ammonium compounds (13). The lack of a positive association in our data may be due to the low concentration (1% weight/volume) of quaternary ammonium compound in the only cleaning agent identified to contain this, which was primarily composed of isopropanol (70% weight/volume). Also, our study did not include full-time surgical instrument cleaners, who have previously been reported to have increased risk of respiratory sensitization and asthma (13,30).
Poisoning of glutaraldehyde-containing products: clinical characteristics and outcomes
Published in Clinical Toxicology, 2021
Suthimon Thumtecho, Charuwan Sriapha, Achara Tongpoo, Umaporn Udomsubpayakul, Winai Wananukul, Satariya Trakulsrichai
Notably, most GA solutions in our study were formulated with other cationic compounds or formaldehyde (76.2%). These formulations might partially contribute to severe local or systemic effects. Cationic detergents are reported to be hazardous, and quaternary ammonium compounds can cause caustic and systemic effects by precipitating and denaturing proteins [28]. Concentrated solutions (10–15%) of cationic detergents, which were common in our study, are known to cause severe burns along the GI tract and death in humans [29,30]. In a previously published investigation of fatalities, the symptoms of acute benzalkonium chloride poisoning included hypotension, confusion, restlessness, convulsions, coma, muscular weakness, pulmonary edema, and renal failure [31], some of which also manifested in our patients. In previous reports, cases of GA exposure with severe systemic effects were exposed to solutions that also contained cationic detergents [11,12].