Tuesday''s Ask the Experts question from a cleaning professional on the
International Custodial Advisors Network (ICAN)
"Ask the Experts" page:
Is there any chemical that has a killing contact time of three minutes or less?
The answer:
Certainly, but it depends on what you are killing. Here are some recommended dwell times for common disinfectants.
Sodium hypochlorite (bleach): Dwell time – 5-10 minutes
Phenols/chlorinated phenols: Dwell time – Generally 10 minutes
Quaternary ammonium compounds (Quats): Dwell time – Generally 10 minutes
Silver dihydrogen citrate (SDC): Dwell time – 30 seconds to 10 minutes
You may note that SDC, which is fairly new to the disinfectant scene, offers kill times as low as 30 seconds ... — Lynn E. Krafft, ICAN/ATEX editor
