 shelf life coupled with a broad range of germicidal, fungicidal, virucidal, and sanitizing properties. These iodophor solutions, which may be in the form of concentrates or dilute free iodine releasing solutions, may be used for cleaning, sanitizing and disinfecting inanimate as well as animate objects.
For many uses, controlled dissipation of the available iodide in iodophor solutions is not a prerequisite for achieving sterility, tissue tolerance, and ultimate safety. However, there are instances where total destruction of the available iodine (I.sub.2) is desirable either while the iodophor is acting or after the iodophor has acted.
Basically, all compounds commonly known as antioxidants having the appropriate redox potential to convert I.sub.2 to 2I- could be used to destroy available iodine. Examples of such compounds would include alcohols, aldehydes, alkenes, alkynes, aromatic hydrocarbons, amides, quinones, hydroxy acids, sugars, amino acids, sulfites, thiosulfates, sulfhydryl containing compounds, and polyunsaturated organics.
Solutions of such compounds have been found to destroy all of the available iodine at different rates. Many such compounds will be satisfactory for various industrial purposes. However, safety and tissue tolerance requirements restrict the number of compounds suitable for human and animal use.
Compounds suitable for human and animal use include sodium sulfite, sodium thiosulfate, sodium hydrogen sulfite, cysteine, methionine, ascorbic acid, sorbic acid and disodium edetate. Almost immediate inactivation of available iodine in iodophors takes place upon treatment with greater than molar equivalents of inorganic sulfites and thiosulfates, methionine, cysteine and ascorbic acid. This virtually instant neutralization may be desirable in some instances. Where maintenance of sterility of the treatment system is not required, neturalization can be accomplished quite readily with such compounds.
In other instances, a slow but predictable rate of iodine dissipation is more desirable. Addit