Dear Koen,
I am not sure that a few seconds of alcohol contact with a fomite
is sufficient to disinfect properly. We commonly use benzalkonium
chloride (zephiran) in our teaching lab, wipe with a sponge, and simply
let air dry. Since you are using E. coli and mycobacteria, I would
suggest o-cresol (lysol), before and after use of the counter surface.
Once again, I would air-dry rather than wipe off quickly with a towel, to
leave disinfectant residue on the fomite. I hope this helps.
Karl J. Roberts
On Mon, 6 Oct 1997, Koen De Smet wrote:
> Dear newsgroupies,
>> We are a molecular biology lab, using mainly E.coli and mycobacteria in
> our research. We routinely spray 70% ethanol on surfaces etc to clean
> them after microbiological work. The ethanol is then wiped away almost
> immediately with a tissue.
>> But how fast-acting is 70% ethanol? Is a few seconds contact long enough
> to kill bacteria?
>> TIA
> Koen De Smet
> _______________________________________________________________
>> To reply by email, remove "nospam." from the above address
> _______________________________________________________________
> ___ ___
> ___ Department of Medical Microbiology ___
> ___ Imperial College School of Medicine at St Mary's ___
> ___ London W2 1PG ___
> ___ http://www.sm.ic.ac.uk/medmicro/home. ___
> _______________________________________________________________
>
