In some parts of the world it's easy to find 70% isopropanol solutions sold for first aid use & that sort of thing. Is there any reason that the stuff from RS (for example) sold for cleaning electronics can't be diluted to 70% then used as a topical antiseptic, toothbrush sterilizer, etc.?
The RS datasheet [1] says "Purity (%) 99.7" but not what the other
0.3% is. (I'm thinking of the fact that high-purity ethanol contains tiny but dangerous traces of benzene, IIRC.)[1]
Why bother or risk it, when there are plenty of UK-available antiseptics and sterilisers available anyway?
Might it be the limit of the testing procedure? Apparently they advertise bleach as killing 99% of germs because of that.
If 99.9% is good enough:
Other sizes are available.
Bleach is at least as effective, and a fraction the cost.
NT
You can't be sure it doesn?t have impurities in it like benzene etc which isnt great for humans to ingest etc.
Not high purity ethanol, that's what is used to get the last of the water out to produce what the chemical industry calls absolute alcohol. Yes, you shouldn?t drink that diluted because of the benzene in it. The high purity ethanol is SVR, which does have some water in it and comes from fermentation.
When I was at tech. (about 45 years ago!) the chemistry lecturer told us that even the highest grade of reagents (Spectro-someting, Aalar - I can't unforget), although suitable for purpose, was not fit for human use whereas the more impure BP grade was. This, as you say, id due to /what/ is leftin, not how much.
speed again.
Well a person I used to know used to swear by this stuff to get stains out of his false teeth and of course he rinsed them afterwards, so although it might not be good, its probably not dangerous if used properly. it does pen and ink though. Brian
Depends on how you define purity. SVR is in fact technically less pure than absolute alcohol, but the impuritys are almost entirely water which is obviously fine to drink because only a fool would drink SVR undiluted. The problem with absolute alcohol is that while there are fewer impurities in it in a technical sense, the impurities are very bad for you because they are mostly benzene and other close impurities like that that are used to get the last of the water out of the ethanol.
speed again
It's taken you a week to work that out? Figures.
I said "topical antiseptic" (i.e., to apply to skin & small open wound). I know bleach is a good disinfectant (for inanimate surfaces).
Are you thinking of hydrogen peroxide? AIUI you can gargle with that (diluted appropriately) & it is supposed to be good for removing stains from real teeth (as well as carpet).
snip
it's an excellent topical antiseptic in the sense of highly effective - but I wouldn't put in on a raw wound :) It's a tad aggressive.
NT
Yes, that's what I'm wondering about. I've been diluting it to 70% & using it to clean whiteboards & other surfaces, & occasionally as a topical antiseptic.
I was thinking of starting the practice of dipping the electric toothbrush heads in it regularly (but letting them air-dry before use) because I keep them in the bathroom window sill near the toilet & was recently told that glass blocks most UV light (which I'd been expecting to kill germs).
Thanks for clarifying the terminology.
re alcohol...
Alcohol sterilises. Bleach sterilises & removes the gunk that harbours the bugs.
I wouldn't expect even hard UV to work with toothbruches, the bristles are too opaque, and any muck tends to be too.
NT
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