Disinfectant

Maria Troupkou <maria.troupkou [at] nationalarchives__gov__uk> writes

>In Conservation DistList Instance: 11:74 Friday, March 6, 1998,
>Cheryl Jackson <cherylj [at] aa__gov__au> writes
>
>>Can someone tell me the suitability of the disinfectant Alkyl
>>dimethyl benzyl ammonium chloride (a quarternary ammonium compound)
>>for use with paper based materials. ...
> ...
> ... Further to the above query, has anybody used what is
>also called 'benzalconium chloride', described as a second
>generation quarternary ammonium compound (Quat) and/or a cationic
>disinfectant with high biocidal activity (the main active ingredient
>in the copper-free pool algicide Physan, and of Lysol(R) Brand
>disinfectant Deodorizing Cleaner) for decontaminating damp
>archival/library material? Or know of any mention of it in the
>literature?

and Susan Lee-bechtold <susan.lee-bechtold [at] nara__gov> writes

> ...  It would be interesting to see
>research done on this topic

A recent article may be of some peripheral interest as it discusses
a substance (not used for the above purpose) that is a mix of
toluene, dimethyl dialkyl quaternary ammonium hydroxide and
methanol. There are health and safety implications. See:

    Rodrigues, J. Delgado and J. Valero.
    "A brief note on the elimination of dark stains of biological
    origin", Studies in Conservation 48 (2003) pp17-22.

Lauren Murdoch


                                  ***
                  Conservation DistList Instance 18:7
                  Distributed: Tuesday, July 13, 2004
                        Message Id: cdl-18-7-004
                                  ***