[Phenolic coefficient in the microbiological evaluation of disinfectants for hospital and household use]

The phenolic coefficient of 24 disinfectants (six for hospital and the remainder for household use) commercialized in S. Paulo were verified. The active compounds found were phenol, quaternary ammonium, formaldehyde, ethanol and chlorine, some of them in association. The microorganisms used were Staphylococcus aureus ATCC 6538, Pseudomonas aeruginosa ATCC 15442 and Salmonella choleraesuis ATCC 10708. The values of the phenolic coefficient ranged from 58.3 to 0.1. The hospital disinfectants showed values greater than those of the disinfectants for household use, though these differences do not necessarily indicate the quality of the respective products. Conversely the microbiological method adopted showed that some products for household use had low or inexistent antibacterial activity because the phenolic coefficient could not be determined for the dilutions used for this evaluation.