Bleach Concentration Risks and EN 862 standard
Bleach, a traditional and historical product in the field of cleaning and disinfection as a miracle product . For a very long time, bleach has been used in communities and in particular school groups for cleaning and disinfection because it has always been a guarantee of "reassurance" for users.
"If it smells like bleach, it's clean and healthy"...
Bleach cleans: Why is it a legend?
No, bleach does not clean anything at all because for a cleaning product to have a cleaning action (in the technical sense of the term detergent) it is necessary for this product to contain "surfactants" which have the function of giving the water its cleaning power.
This is why we often describe a cleaning product, a laundry detergent , etc., by the notion of detergency , which uses the concept of surfactant, which can be anionic or cationic, for example.
Bleach gives the illusion of cleaning but it is its corrosive power which gives a feeling of whiteness to linen, enamelled surfaces such as toilet bowls, etc., but it is THE power of bleach which is to WHITEN .
In short, bleach does not remove the stain but it whitens it . If your sheets are stained you can whiten the stain but in bright light you will see the demarcation of the original stain by a different shade of white.
As you will have understood, bleach, due to its corrosive aggressiveness, will degrade your surfaces, making them more and more porous and therefore less and less easy to maintain . The fibers of your linen will be weakened and damaged. In the context of the maintenance of sanitary facilities , this is often a recurring problem linked to the excessive use of bleach. The floor tiles become porous (the joints with them) ... traces of urine, especially under the urinals, impregnate the floor and your maintenance becomes impossible.
The disinfectant power of bleach: yes, but!
On the contrary, bleach has been and remains an effective disinfectant but under two conditions which unfortunately are not very often verified by users in use.
Bleach Expiration Date
The first is the expiration date . Indeed, bleach is a "living" product and its concentration changes over time and depending on storage temperature conditions . When it comes off the line, bleach has its announced concentration, but between the time it leaves the factory and is stored at the distributor... the time it is stored at the end customer... and your usage time... there may be delays that are incompatible with the use of bleach. As a result, it happens that bleach, apart from "smelling like bleach", has only half or less of its original concentration left...
Concentrated bleach 36° chl must be diluted within 3 months of the factory release date on the packaging. The chlorometric degree varies little if stored away from light and heat. After three months, there is a significant decrease in its active power , but simply add more concentrated bleach to the water to maintain the same effectiveness. Bleach 12° chl can be stored for at least 1 year without any significant loss of activity.
Disinfection and bleach
The other point is dilution ... If you really want to use bleach for disinfection purposes, it will be necessary to understand which standards you want to respect in terms of disinfection and then correlate the dilution to reach this standard which itself is linked to a contact time . Bleach is one of the disinfectants with the widest field of activity, that is to say that it destroys bacteria, fungi (responsible for mycoses), spores (forms of resistance of germs) and viruses, such as AIDS and hepatitis B for example, in a short time. It is therefore bactericidal, fungicidal, sporicidal, virucidal and meets AFNOR disinfection standards. Its action is very rapid. Diluted to 1/100th, commercial bleach at 9chl destroys bacteria in 30 seconds.
It is by integrating all these elements that many professionals have banned bleach from their disinfection protocols to integrate professional disinfectant maintenance products that are much easier to implement with protocols and a guarantee of results .
The evolution of bleach concentrations
For a long time, concentrated bleach was manufactured in two forms:
-> Bleach historically concentrated at 48° chl
-> Ready-to-use bleach at 12° chl
The first consequence following the 2001 directive is a reduction in these concentrations and their harmonization.
In fact, in order to comply with European directive EN 862 , manufacturers as a whole have made a commitment to the public authorities to no longer distribute bleach extract at a concentration equal to or equal to 10% chlorine (i.e. approximately 36° chlorometric) to the public after May 31, 2001 .
On the recommendation of the bleach union, bleaches with 12° chlorometric have therefore gone down to 9°, which is now 2.6% active chlorine. For concentrated bleach of 48° chl, the rate is now 36° chl, which is 9.6% active chlorine .
Indeed, bleach manufacturers had committed in the early 1980s with French health professionals to harmonize the concentration of bleach with that of concentrates after dilution, in order to promote the use of bleach bottles to dilute concentrates and to avoid the proliferation of different concentrations that posed problems, particularly for poison control centers. Similarly, given the risk of diversion from their professional use of products intended for such use, it seemed appropriate to manufacturers and distributors, in the interests of safety, that the concentrations of all products in formats likely to be found in consumers' homes (bottles, bottles, jerrycans) be harmonized, whether these products are intended for professional use or not. Consequently, manufacturers stopped manufacturing and distributing 48° and 12° bleach from the first days of May 2001.
Bleach now comes in two liquid forms:
- Bleach with 9.6% active chlorine (i.e. 36° chlorometric)
- Bleach with 2.6% active chlorine (i.e. 9° chlorometric)
You will find on our site javels the corresponding standards.