Toxicity and hazard study of disinfectants with inhalation exposure

Introduction. Exposure to disinfectants can negatively affect human and animal health, including respiratory tract irritation, inflammation, swelling, and allergic reactions.

Objective. Establish the toxicity and danger of using working solutions of disinfectants with different chlorine dioxide content.

Materials and Methods. Working solutions of disinfectants with chlorine dioxide content in concentrations from 0.01 to 0.075% were studied. In the study of working solutions in animals, the functional state of the nervous and respiratory systems was assessed. The chlorine dioxide content in the air was determined during surface treatment with a working solution with a chlorine dioxide concentration of 0.04%.

Results. Hazard classes of working solutions of chlorine dioxide were established, which depended not only on the concentration of chlorine dioxide, but also on the initial composition of the components of disinfectants. Working solutions with a concentration of chlorine dioxide of 0.075% belong to the 2nd class of dangerous products, with a concentration of chlorine dioxide of 0.05–0.01% belong to the 4th class of low-risk products according to the Classification of the degree of inhalation hazard of disinfectants in the zone of acute biocidal action. The conducted sanitary and chemical studies of the studied disinfectants did not reveal a high content of chlorine dioxide in the air.

Limitations. Only studies of the nervous and respiratory systems have been conducted, studies of the functional state of the liver and kidneys have not been conducted.

Conclusion. A working solution with a chlorine dioxide concentration of 0.075% can be used by specialists in personal protective equipment in the absence of patients and the public. Working solutions with a concentration of 0.05–0.01% chlorine dioxide can be used both in the presence of patients and in everyday life. When treating surfaces with chlorine dioxide-based disinfectants by wiping, prolonged ventilation of rooms is not required to remove them.

Ethics approval. Ethics Committee (subcommittee) Institute of Disinfection of the F.F. FNTSG. Rospotrebnadzor adopted and approved the program of toxicological studies of disinfectants for inhalation exposure to laboratory animals. The experiments were conducted in accordance with Directive 2010/63/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of the European Union dated September 22, 2010 on the protection of animals used for scientific purposes, by order of the Ministry of Health Russia from 04/01/2016 No. 199n.

Contribution:
Pankratova G.P. — concept and design of the study, writing text;
Bidevkina M.V. — general idea, writing the text and editing the article;
Shaykhutdinova Z.K. — conducting research, collection and statistical processing of material;
Morozov A.S. — concept and design of the study, collection and processing of material, writing text;
Zverev S.A. — writing text;
Vinogradova A.I. — statistical processing of material.
All co-authors — integrity of all parts of the manuscript and approval of the manuscript final version.

Funding. The study had no sponsorship and was carried out as part of a research project on the topic "Development of methods for the comprehensive assessment of the toxic effects of disinfectants and technologies for their use" (reg. No. R&D 023032900200-8-3.1.7).

Conflict of interest. The authors declare that there are no obvious or potential conflicts of interest in relation to the publishing this article.

Received: 07.07.2025 / Accepted: 26.10.2025 / Published: 10.12.2025

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