benzalkonium chloride

[ben-zal-koh-nee-uhm]

noun

Chemistry.

1. a white or yellowish-white, water-soluble mixture of ammonium chloride derivatives having the structure C 8 H 10 NRCl, where R is a mixture of radicals ranging from C 8 H 17 – to C 18 H 37 –, that occurs as an amorphous powder or in gelatinous lumps: used chiefly as an antiseptic and a disinfectant.

benzalkonium chloride

1. A yellow-white powder prepared in an aqueous solution and used as a detergent, fungicide, bactericide, and spermicide. Benzalkonium chloride is a mixture of the chlorides of various organic compounds having a benzene ring attached to an ammoniated alkane.

Word History and Origins

Origin of benzalkonium chloride¹

benz- + alk(yl) + (amm)onium

Example Sentences

Health officials also say to avoid hand sanitizers that replace alcohol with benzalkonium chloride, which is less effective at killing certain bacteria and viruses.

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The FDA also flagged several more products that had inadequate amounts of benzalkonium chloride, a chemical with antimicrobial properties.

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Another common ingredient in household disinfectants, including many Lysol products, is benzalkonium chloride.

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Febriadhitya Prajatara compared the benzalkonium chloride disinfectant, which can cause skin irritations in high concentrations, to “soap” and said it would help “weaken the virus so it won’t enter our body”.

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That study, published in the Journal of Hospital Infection, suggested that coronaviruses could be "efficiently inactivated" with disinfectants that contain "62–71 percent ethanol, 0.5 percent hydrogen peroxide or 0.1 percent sodium hypochlorite within 1 minute," adding that other agents that contain "0.05–0.2% benzalkonium chloride or 0.02 percent chlorhexidine digluconate are less effective."

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