Can alcohol disinfection play a role in sterilization?

Alcohol is the most common disinfection and sterilization product, especially during the epidemic period, alcohol is always preserved by every household. Alcohol is ethanol, which is the most important active ingredient in the wine we usually drink. So can this drinkable thing really be disinfected? The answer is yes, medical alcohol with 75% ethanol concentration can play a role in sterilization and disinfection.

As a single-celled organism, bacteria have a cell membrane, which contains genetic material and water, and water is a small molecular substance that can penetrate the cell membrane and enter and exit freely. So what determines whether water enters or flows out of cells? Is the concentration difference of the liquid. According to osmosis, water always flows to the area with high concentration, so when the cell is filled with alcohol, because the concentration of extracellular fluid is obviously higher than that in the cell, the water in the cell will flow out of the body and the cell will dehydrate and die. It doesn't matter if the bacteria don't dehydrate to death, because alcohol will penetrate into the cell through the cell membrane, thus causing the degeneration of protein in the cell. After degradation, protein lost its function and bacteria could not survive.

Compared with bacteria, viruses are actually more fragile. They are just a lot of genetic material wrapped in protein. Alcohol can cause degeneration in protein, so it is easy to kill most viruses.

Then, how should citizens use alcohol correctly after buying it?

1. Spraying method: Fill the watering can with 75% ethanol disinfectant and press the surface to be disinfected for disinfection. This method is suitable for hand disinfection, and it is convenient and quick to spray disinfection on hands, skin and surfaces of various objects.

2. Wipe method: soak 75% alcohol with sterile cotton swab or cotton ball, and then wipe the cotton swab or cotton ball on the skin or the surface of the disinfected object. At present, there are finished alcohol disinfection cotton sheets on the market, which can be used directly. This method can control the dosage well, but it needs sterile cotton swabs, cotton balls or cotton sheets. The wiping area is limited, and it can be used for surface disinfection of small objects such as switches, door handles and mobile phones.