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title: Sometimes it's HOT, sometime it's NOT!
description: Sometimes it's HOT, sometime it's NOT!
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## Something Powerful

# Resources

 

 

## Sometimes it's HOT, sometime it's NOT!

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For many of us...it's not hot.  In fact in my part of Ontario our weather  
 forecast reads something like this "*A  
 period of **very cold wind chills** is  
 expected.  A strong cold front has  
 crossed southern Ontario ushering in much colder temperatures and gusty north  
 winds. Wind chill values this afternoon have generally been between minus 20C  
 (-4F) and minus 30C (-22F) across most of southern Ontario.  Tonight will be **very cold** across all of southern Ontario. Although the winds will  
 diminish somewhat, wind chills of minus 30C (-22F) to minus 35C (-31F) are  
 expected tonight and into Friday morning."* 

That is bordering on "I'm going to call in sick"  
 cold!

While not often thought of when choosing disinfectants, the  
 temperature with which you're storing disinfectants should be considered.  The truth is, extreme temperature fluctuations  
 - be it extremely hot or, like today, EXTREMELY cold - can have a negative  
 impact on disinfectants and/or disinfection itself.  Most  
 disinfectants are comprised of significant quantities of water.  What does water do?  It can boil.   
It can evaporate.  And without a  
 doubt, it can freeze.  Aside from water,  
 the chemicals within the disinfectant can be seriously impacted.  They can degrade, which will impact both the  
 stability or shelf life of the product, but more importantly it can impact the  
 product's efficacy.  Some can also  
 combust! Both heating and freezing may also impact the stability of a product. Freezing can cause  
 the solution to separate into different phases (think oil and water).  If the solution is not homogenous, you do not  
 have all ingredients mixed together which can lead to lack of efficacy.

Most disinfectant manufacturers will do a Freeze-Thaw test  
 that determines what will happen if the product freezes.  Generally about 5 Freeze-Thaw cycles are  
 completed as the intent of this test is to determine what will happen if there  
 is an accidental freezing during transportation or improper storage for a short  
 period of time.  The test is not intended  
 to cover repeated freezing cycles, such as a product that is left in a car  
 overnight in the cold for an extended period.

In terms of storage under high heat - Again, most  
 disinfectants can handle such a situation for a short period of time, however,  
 products such as bleach or ones with alcohol or solvents can be impacted significantly in terms of  
 stability and efficacy if stored in extreme heat... say the trunk of a car or  
 back of a tractor trailer.

The next time you get a call or email that goes something  
 like this *"....They carry wipes in  
 their cars and dispense a few into a zip-lock baggie for each visit leaving the  
 tub in their cars. Sometimes the tub stays in the vehicle all day and  
 overnight. Does freezing (or heat in the summer) have any impact on the  
 effectiveness of the wipes?"*  what will your answer be?

I hope you tell the person that storing disinfectants under  
 high heat or extreme cold conditions will impact both the stability (shelf  
 life) and efficacy of a product.  If  
 we're trying to stop the spread of infections we need to ensure our  
 disinfectants work!

Please try to remember not to freeze your disinfectant and if  
 you have some in your car right now... you may just want to run out and rescue  
 it!

*Bugging Off! *

Nicole

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