Cleaning Quaternary Ammonium Compounds

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.

Cleaning quaternary ammonium compounds.

Quats quaternary ammonium compounds are potent disinfectant chemicals commonly found in disinfectant wipes sprays and other household cleaners that are designed to kill germs. Although other surfactant types such as anionic nonionic and. Quaternary ammonium compounds are prepared by the alkylation of tertiary amines with a halocarbon. 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 widely used as surface disinfectants and can be found in many household cleaners including disinfectant wipes and sprays. They are used as conditioning agents to give skin and hair a smooth feel. The final part of this three part article gives tips using quaternary ammonium chloride products. It is often the stuff that allows a product to claim to be antibacterial as they are certified by the epa as pesticides.

Quaternary ammonium compounds overview. The reaction can be used to produce a compound with unequal alkyl chain lengths. Quaternary ammonium compounds are nitrogenous organic compounds used as disinfectants in restaurants hospitals and homes. The basic chemical structure of ammonium is a nitrogen atom with four hydrogen atoms attached around it.

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. To reduce the threat of quat binding custodial executives must train staff on the pros and cons of various disinfecting techniques. There are three ways disinfectants can be applied to surfaces. 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.

Research has shown quaternary ammonium compounds to effectively kill most bacteria viruses and fungi. Quaternary ammonium compounds biomonitoring california 4 march 4 2020 sgp meeting concentrations in this sample were 1 5 micrograms per cubic meter µg m3 benzyltetradecyldimethyl ammonium chloride 14 carbon c chain length 0 96 µg m3 benzylhexadecyldimethyl ammonium chloride c16 and 0 23 µg m3 benzyldodecyldimethyl ammonium chloride c12 which were comparable proportions.