Biocide under transitional Legislation - Biocides

Skin sanitizers

This term identifies products that are placed on the market as cosmetics and therefore fall under Regulation

(EC) 1223/2009. (see above).

Sanitizers for environment

It is a cleaner, placed on the market as a product for free sale in compliance with the provisions of

Regulation (EC) No.648/2004. Such products may also contain the same substances used in PMC.

A sanitizer for the environment is a cleaner and must comply with the provisions of Regulation (EC)

No. 648/2004.

Sanitize and sanitizing

Sanitizing activities are those that concern the complex of procedures and operations to make certain en-

vironments healthy through the activity of cleaning and/or disinfection and/or disinfestation or control and

improvement of the conditions of the microclimate (temperature, humidity and ventilation) or lighting and the

noise. M.D. 7 July 1997 n. 274.

A PMC (Biocide under transitional Legislation) or Biocide has action against major

viruses including SARS-CoV-2 responsible for COVID-19 disease and against legionella?

With regard to legionella, the effectiveness of a PMC or Biocide is ensured by passing the specific test for

antibacterial capabilities and in products normally used for sanitization/sanitation of air handling units, this

capacity is de

finitely present. The situation is different when it comes to the effectiveness of PMC or Biocidal

against viruses in that the types of viruses are, in a very generic way, of two types one with casing and the

other without wrap and Contrary to what it might seem, enveloped viruses are normally less resistant than

those without envelopes and therefore more easily destroyed.

We can immediately say that to date there are no specific tests for SARS-CoV-2 and the reference standard

for efficacy against viruses is UNI EN ISO 14476 that tests the effectiveness against enveloped viruses (such

as precisely the SARS-CoV-2) and precisely, if the test is performed against the Vaccinia Virus, the claim

against enveloped virus is generic, while if the test is performed against Adenovirus and Norovirus murino

(limited spectrum), the claim of active against non-enveloped viruses, Rotavirus, Norovirus and Adenovirus is

approved.We conclude this brief answer by saying that, except for any authorizations necessary for the claims

“bactericidal” and “virucidal”, the active ingredients that are most effective in the literature are:

Obviously it is also crucial to specify that the effectiveness of an active ingredient depends on its concentra-

tion, the temperature of use, the contact time, as well as on the possible presence in the product of multiple

active ingredients that can exert a synergistic effect with each other making the action more effective even of

a normally less effective active ingredient.

Lactic acid

effective on bacteria and influenza virus (a type of coronavirus

Hydrogen peroxide

effective on bacteria and viruses with envelope

Sodium hypochlorite

effective on bacteria and viruses with envelope

Ethanol and isopropanol

effective on bacteria and viruses with envelope

Benzalkonium chloride

effective on bacteria but with less effective results on viruses

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