Mycobactericidal activity of glutaraldehyde solutions

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Abstract
Aqueous solutions of alkaline glutaraldehyde (buffered at pH 8.5) inactivated a standard suspension of Mycobacterium tuberculosis H37Rv faster than the corresponding acid (pH 3.7) preparation. Quantitative differences in the rate of inactivation of 8 other Mycobacterium spp. were determined using a 1% solution of alkaline glutaraldehyde and inactivation of residual glutaraldehyde with 1% sodium bisulfite solution. Variations in the rate of kill were observed between the various mycobacterial species tested, but such differences were probably not sufficiently large to be of practical importance. A 2% alkaline glutaraldehyde solution inactivated 105 viable M. tuberculosis cells present on the surface of porcelain penicylinders within 5 min at 18.degree. C. This rate of inactivation was faster than in the acidic solution.