Investigation of the Antibacterial Effectiveness of Various Licensed Surface Disinfectants

The concept of hygiene has become more important today due to pandemic infections. Many products on the market have been licensed, but whose antibacterial effectiveness has not been checked later. For this reason, the study aimed to determine the antibacterial activities of surface disinfectants available in the market for public and personal use, based on the international standard. Eight different surface disinfectants, licensed from the authority and for public and personal use, were collected and processed without any dilution (100%). In the study, standard strains Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) (ATCC 6538), Escherichia coli (E. coli) (ATCC 10536), and Pseudomonas aeruginosa (P. aeroginosa) (ATCC 15442) were used. Exposure conditions; it was done for 5 minutes and under clean conditions (0.3 g/L bovine albumin solution) at room temperature (22-24℃). It was determined that the eight surface disinfectants included in the study showed different levels of antibacterial activity. When the logarithm differences and antibacterial activities of surface disinfectants are examined as percentages; while the logarithm difference of three disinfectants against the three bacteria examined was ≥ 5; the logarithm difference of five disinfectants against two bacteria is ≥ 5; the percentage of those effective against all three bacteria was 37.5%; the percentage of those effective against both bacteria was found to be 62.5%. Due to the improprieties detected in the antibacterial activities of the surface disinfectants examined, when their antibacterial activities are examined, although they are licensed, it is seen that the products do not provide the specified antibacterial activity. The selection of disinfectants used to neutralize bacteria that cause infections, the determination of their antibacterial activities, and the sustainability of the determined antibacterial activity are of great importance. For this reason, it is necessary to check the antibacterial activities of disinfectants even after the registration stage and to select disinfectants according to their effectiveness to prevent infections.