What’s The By: Claudia Britton Difference? L Last year, a Wal-Mart store in Baltimore was evac-uated when two patrons got into an altercation. Bleach, another disinfectant product and ammonia were alleged to have been thrown at one of the parties involved. Potentially harmful and irritating fumes were emitted from the site that forced the closure of the store for several hours as emergency medi-cal services (EMS) and hazardous materials units assessed the situation, cleaned up the spill and ventilated the building. As many as 19 people were transpor ted to hospitals suffering from eye injuries and respira-tory ailments. The Wal-Mart story is a vivid illustration that, while many may be used in daily cleaning pro-cesses, chemicals have different properties and may not be compatible to use together. The irritating fumes created at the Wal-Mart store may have been the result of bleach and ammonia mixing together and releasing harmful chlorine gas. Harmful fumes can also be released when bleach comes in to contact with the ingredients of many of the disinfectant cleaning products avail-able on the market today. The best way to avoid creating a hazardous environment is to avoid mixing cleaning products or co-using them without first undertaking a thor-ough rinse of the entire surface. A brief description of the properties and uses of bleach and disinfectant cleaners will assist in Bleach and disinfectants have distinct dissimilarities and certainly do not mix. Claudia Britton is the technol-ogy manager for Permatex, an ITW company. The Spray Nine brand, a recent Permatex acquisition, has been a leader in the development and manu-facturing of high-quality clean-ing products since 1948. Spray Nine is credited with introduc-ing the industry’s first “spray-on, wipe-off” disinfectant cleaner. For more information about ready-to-use disinfec-tants and the other cleaning solutions offered by the Spray Nine brand from Permatex, visit www.SprayNine.com. Bleach is a great disinfectant but a poor cleaner, making the two-step procedure of clean-ing then disinfecting important in achieving clean, germ-free surfaces. for more info Visit www.cmmonline.com and type in search key-word: Infection Control . For more information on related products, visit www.cmmonline.com , select SUPPLIER SEARCH from the main navigation bar, and enter keyword: Disinfectant . 16 CM/Cleaning & Maintenance Management ® • September 2012 Image courtesy of Permatex
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