The weekly times-record. (Valley City, N.D.) 1912-1922, 1913-08-14
Fair Warning
Against Fakes
PURE FOOD BULLETIN STATES
DiSINFECTANTS REQUIRE
SCRUTINY. ..

Disinfectants on the market in the
United States today are not all dis
infectants, according to analysis made
at the North Dakota pure food lab
oratory. J. H. Wright of that depart
ment, who conducted test, makes
report of the results in the current is
sue of the monthly bulletin.
In discussing the work, Mr.. Wright
says:
"A large number of disinfectant So
buttons on the market today is posi-
tive proof of their extensive use
throughout the country. They are
used in hospitals and public buildings
by health officers, by physicians in
their private practice and by the gen.
eral public. Many of these prepare
tions have comparatively high ger
micidal value, while others are prac-
tically worthless. Frequently these
products found upon the market are
not labeled to show their germicidaf
value, while in other cases the claims
made by the manufacturers are false
and misleading and canot be taken
as a true index of the value of these
preparations as disinfectants. The
extravagant and wholly unfounded
claims made for some disinfectant
may easily lead to false sense of
security, so that much harm may re-
suit through the use of inert or in
ferior preparations. It is, therefore
a matter of utmost Importance that
the actual value Of the various disin-
fectants be determined and the result
published.
1.-THE archaeological standardization
of disinfectants has lately been the
subject of considerable discussion both
in this country and abroad. Several
methods for the bacterial assay have
been proposed and discussed, among
which the most important are the ~
Rideal- Walker method and the (2)
Hygiene Laboratory method of An
derson and McClintoc.
"A large number OF disinfectants
have been examined. In this work
the details were carried out strictly as
laid down by Anderson and McClintoc
Open seeding tubes were not used as
it was found impossible to prevent
contamination. A number of the same
preparations reported were also ex-
amined by Anderson and McClintoc.
The results in some cases are quite
different, but this is undoubtedly due
to variations in the digerent samples
of the same preparation.
"The culture used throughout this
work was B. Typhosus, Hopkins,
which was transferred to sterile broth
every "a hours for ten days before be-,
ing used for test. The strain Of.
typhoid used is very important fac
tor in this work, wide variations being
obtained when different strains are
used. This fact alone Is undoubtedly
the cause of most Of the variations
obtained by different workers. The
writer's experience has led to the con-
clusion that no uniformity may be ex-
pected until all workers use not only
the same organism but the same
strain as we'll. A large number of ex-
periments have been carried on with
different strains of the bacillus, the
results of which will appear in lat
er bulletin. II
These preparations were submitted
by the manufacturers themselves, and
are not necessarily the same as those
found on the market with similar
names. Neither does it necessarily
follow that the disinfectant with a
high co-efficient is the best and most
economical to buy. The cost and the
purpose for which 1t is to be used
must also be taken into consideration.
To obtain the true cost, both the phe.
mol co-efficient and the cost per gal.
Ion must be considered. It is evident.
ly cheaper to purchase a disinfectant
for 81 per gallon instead of one at
SO cents, provided, the former has
four times the efficiency"