Who invented disinfectants

Use of bleach requires pre-cleaning with detergents prior to disinfection and is also corrosive to many surfaces. Alcohols such as Isopropyl and Ethanol continue to be used for surface disinfection. Alcohol evaporates very rapidly and is therefore not necessarily effective against the targeted pathogens. As they are flammable, restrictions for use and handling are required. Alcohols also require that surfaces be pre-cleaned with detergents prior to disinfection.

Antibiotic resistant microbes start to appear. Questions arise as to their resistance to antimicrobials. Aldehydes such as glutaraldehyde for medical device disinfection are introduced. Indeed, he brought to Cleveland some of the most modern, up-to-date equipment for performing scientific surgery. This included a larger carbolic acid sprayer purchased in London and a Hartnack microscope bought in Berlin. Search for: Search. Audio Archive Video Archive. Archives Artifacts Images.

Shopping cart close. As one prominent surgeon dramatically declared:. Like all surgeons of his day, Lister had an intimate knowledge of infection. In his first job as a surgical dresser he accompanied the surgeon on his rounds, cleaning and re-dressing surgical wounds, seeing first-hand the various levels of decaying flesh, pus and other bodily secretions resulting from infections.

When he became an experienced surgeon, Lister would use his home laboratory to investigate the nature of infection, assisted by his wife Agnes.

He also extended his research to clinical trials in the hospital, establishing a reputation as an exceptional surgeon.

The French scientist Louis Pasteur speculated that the spread of microorganisms called germs in the body could explain infectious disease. This was known as the Germ Theory of Disease. Although he never tested the theory, Pasteur suggested that a disease might be controlled by exposing the wound to germ-killing chemicals.

He looked for ways to prevent germs from entering a wound by creating a chemical barrier—which he called an antiseptic—between the surgical wound and the surroundings.

The chemical he chose to use was carbolic acid, which killed the germs on contact. Lister began to develop his antiseptic techniques through experimentation and clinical trials, regularly publishing his findings. Reception to his theory was mixed.

Because they didn't accept that germs caused infections, many surgeons found the antiseptic system excessive and unnecessarily complicated. Some thought that Lister was claiming carbolic acid as a cure for infections, not as one way to prevent them! Lister applied the principle of an antiseptic barrier to a set of procedures for the operating room that are illustrated in the gallery below. The procedures, along with the instruments that he invented, were designed to prevent germs from coming into contact with the open wound.

He introduced weak carbolic hand washes for surgical staff and carbolic acid baths for the instruments. He used solutions of carbolic acid spray to reduce the level of germs in the air around the patient. The antiseptic system in practice in an operating room. This set of steel amputation instruments was made after antiseptic surgical techniques were in common use. Before that, instruments were often made of materials such as ivory and wood that were difficult to clean. Towels soaked in carbolic solution were lain on the patient and a sponge soaking in carbolic solution was used to wipe hands and instruments during operations.

The carbolic hand spray was a later development by Lister. Working in the carbolic spray was unpleasant and toxic.