The Effect of Environmental Factors on the Stability of Commercial Chlorine-Based Sanitizers in Iran

Introduction: considering the increase in the use of Chlorine-based disinfectants and the questions about the shelf-life of chlorine in solutions, its persistence on the surface, etc., the present study investigated the effect of environmental factors on the stability of commercial solutions stored in different conditions. Materials: and methods Three brands of commercial Chlorine-based sanitizers (Golrang, Active, and Tage) were tested. Stability of 0.05, 0.5, and 1% solutions with the pH of 5, 7.5, and 10 stored at 4°C, 25°C, and 45°C were assessed using iodometric titration in 0, 15, 30, and 60 days after preparation. 87 solutions were prepared based on Experimental Design and Response Surface Modeling (RSM) the utilization of Box-Behnken factorial design (BBD). Results: Based on RSM and BBD, the effects of linear coefficients of all factors were significant (p < 0.05) and there were no statistically significant differences among the three brands (p = 0.307). There was a negative correlation between the free available chlorine and time. Solutions with a higher initial concentration (1%) tend to have lower stability compared with others. The temperature contributed to the instability of the solutions. There was a gradual decrease in the pH of all solutions over time. The lowest stability was seen in neutral pH (7.5). Conclusion: Chlorine-based solutions under different storage conditions have different stability times. All factors affect the stability of chlorine in solutions. Therefore, environmental conditions must be considered when using chlorine solutions.