A new laboratory assistant was asked to disinfectant the laboratory bench where specimens are received and processed. The laboratory assistant used concentrated bleach to wipe down the la-boratory bench. The discrepancy in this situation is:

Question

a. the laboratory assistant forgot to rinse the laboratory bench after disinfecting it.
b. the laboratory assistant failed to wash the laboratory bench with soap prior to ap-plying the bleach.
c. the laboratory assistant failed to use di-luted 10% bleach, thinking that concen-trated solution will result in improved disinfection of the bench.
d. the laboratory assistant followed proper procedure and there is no discrepancy.

Answer 1

C
A common mistake is that concentrated disinfectants are more effective in the killing and decon-tamination of potentially contaminated surfaces. On the contrary, the inclusion of water assists in the breaking of hydrogen bonds that are essential in maintaining the structure of organic mole-cules such as proteins. Failure to dilute concentrated disinfectants results in a decreased effec-tiveness of the chemical and decontamination of the surface.