Some disinfectants give you a laundry list of claims to avoid mentioning their slow TB kill times. But, the CDC continues to recommend using TB kill times as the benchmark for a product’s potency and broad spectrum capability. Don’t be mislead by other brands found in supermarkets.
The article, Making Sense of Disinfectant Labels: A Step-By-Step Approach, published in Infection Control Today’s September 2011 issue, states, “Because it is impossible for the user of the product to determine the type of potential contamination that exists on the surface to be treated, the user should disinfect the surface according to the longest contact time found on the product label to ensure full efficacy of the solution is maximized.”
Read product labels carefully.Quick reference guide:
| Manufacturer | Product Brand | Longest Kill Time | |
| Metrex | CaviCide | 3 minutes | Mycobacterium tuberculosis (TB) |
| Clorox | Broad Spectrum | 5 minutes | Mycobacterium tuberculosis (TB) |
| Ecolab | AseptiCare TB + II | 6 minutes | Mycobacterium tuberculosis (TB) |
| SC Johnson | Virex TB | 10 minutes | Mycobacterium tuberculosis (TB) |
| Caltech | Precise QTB | 10 minutes | Hepatitis A Virus (HAV), Poliovirus Type 1, Canine Parvovirus, Trichophyton mentagrophytes (Athlete's Foot Fungus) |
| Sklar | Sklar Disinfectant | 3 minutes | Mycobacterium tuberculosis (TB) |
| Steris | Coverage TB | 5 minutes | Mycobacterium tuberculosis (TB) |
The names of actual companies and products mentioned herein may be the trademarks of their respective owners.
