Page 86 - School Infection Control Handbook - 2010

Chapter 4: Selection of Products, Dispensing Equipment, and Application Systems
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Chapter 4.H. Choosing Between Concentrated Products and Ready-to-Use Products
Introduction
Using concentrated products saves money and conserves resources, and dispensing them with the correct equipment is safer than
dispensing without the equipment. There are times, however, when using a ready-to-use (RTU) product is safer and more practical
(e.g., when there is no access to facilities or no time to dilute a product, such as disinfecting a blood spill or dealing with an incident
on a school bus or the playground). There are also situations where staff members do not have the required safety equipment to handle
a concentrated product, so it would be safer to have a RTU product that is typically less hazardous in its diluted form. This chart
provides criteria to help select the right concentration form for each type of situation.
Criteria to
Evaluate
Type of Product
Concentrate to be diluted and dispensed
from a wall-mounted station
Concentrate to be diluted and
dispensed from a handheld unit Ready-to-use
Design Designed to dilute, mix, and dispense
product concentrates in an area with
plumbing and electricity
Designed to dilute a single product
at point-of-use without plumbing
and electricity
Designed in prepackaged solutions that do
not require any dilution on the part of the
end user
Advantages Less expensive to ship
Less storage room required
Uses fewer resources for packaging and
shipping
Less expensive than disinfectant wipes or
RTU products
Can use immediately
Already labeled
The dispenser measures the amount,
so the correct dilution for the job is
achieved each time, unless the user
has not selected the correct dilution
level (e.g., higher concentration for
bloodborne pathogens), or the
dispenser is set at the wrong dilution
The unit dilutes and mixes the
product every time the unit is used,
so there are fewer safety hazards
(spills, inhalation of vapors, etc.)
from dispensing from a gallon bottle
on a daily basis
Can store at point-of-use
Can use immediately
Less hazardous to handle
Already labeled
Some products only come in RTU
formulations