Q. We have been using Tergazyme to clean lenses and cuvettes for our light scattering equipment and it works flawlessly! My question is: Does Tergazyme enzyme detergent have any disinfection properties, like killing of bacteria such as E. coli, or viruses?
A. Thank you for asking this important question. Alconox Inc. does not have disinfectant claims on any detergents, including the Tergazyme® Enzyme Active Powdered Detergent. However, any thorough cleaning and rinse with a well-built aqueous detergent (like all Alconox Inc. detergents) will leave the surface in a minimal (if not zero) bioburden state. Alconox Inc. does not certify this. We provide products for cleaning, which necessarily precedes disinfection. Disinfecting a surface that has not been thoroughly cleaned and rinsed, may result in disinfected “dirt” remaining. Rinsing is a mass displacement event that removes the residues that have been “grabbed up” by the detergent.
This anecdotal information of minimal bioburden states is especially true, for Tergazyme detergent. It does not just have surfactants, chelators, dispersants, sequestering agents (all ways it “grabs up” residue), but also a protease (proteolytic enzyme). In fact, the protease is highly effective in prion removal. So in review, Alconox Inc. cannot claim “disinfection” properties for any of its detergents, but we can say that our detergents are expected to greatly reduce bioburden when used according to instruction.
Click to learn more about how our Tergazyme Enzyme Detergent works by watching our video.
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1. Just to set the record straight, as Alconox knows, any claim as a disinfectant or sanitizer or biocide requires a full EPA set of tests proving the claim and MSDS and an EPA product number and an EPA plant number. That is for any such claim at all, or there is a big fine.
2. That being said, any commercial dishwasher using water at 140F with detergents will “sanitize and disinfect” to a large degree and should clean and reduce any bioburden to near zero.
However, Alconox is correct in not discussing this in print because it could be taken the wrong way.
Nice article.