Wear resistant antimicrobial compositions and methods of use

Abstract

Anti-microbial compositions comprising (a) a quaternary ammonium compound and (b) a cationic biocide. Applicant has discovered a synergistic combination of the two components with the ration of cationic biocide to quaternary ammonium being less than 1:10 or with a single quaternary compound in a ratio of less than 1.6 to 1 provide a film forming coating that has residual anti-bacterial activity and improved durability with strong resistance to general wear between applications.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS[0001]This application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. §119 to provisional application Ser. No. 61 / 422,908 filed Dec. 14, 2010, herein incorporated by reference in its entirety.FIELD OF THE INVENTION[0002]This invention relates to anti-microbial compositions and use of the same to disinfect or clean various surfaces.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION[0003]Microbes may often be present on many common objects and surfaces in everyday life. Microbes can include, for example, bacteria, fungi, spores, viruses, prions, microorganisms such as, e.g., Mycobacterium tuberculosis, listeria monocytogenas, escherichia coli, pseudomonas aeruginosa, salmonella typhimurium, salmonella enteritidis, legionella bacteria, Yersinia pestis, staphylococcus aereus, bacillus subtilis, enterobacter aerogenes, streptococcus faecalis, legionella pneumophila, vibrio parahaemolyticus, bacillus cereus, and other gram positive and gram negative microorganisms. Several such microbes / ...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0015]The anti-microbial compositions of the invention provide a film that is long lasting with residual antimicrobial effect with improved wear resistance when applied to a surface. The compositions comprise a synergistic blend of a quaternary ammonium compound, preferably quaternary ammonium chloride, and cationic biocide such as poly-hexamethylene biguande. In preferred embodiments that compositions also include an amine oxide surfactant (preferably having a carbon chain length of 8), and a chelant (Ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid EDTA) to produce a bacterial / viricidal film that provides both wet efficacy (e.g. when the solution is applied directly to a surface) as well as persistent antibacterial / antiviral activity that is significantly more resistant to mechanical abrasion than either of the components alone or in various combinations.

[0019]For example, Applicants found that as opposed to the larger classes of surfactants, such as alcohol ethoxylates, or sulfonated and sulfated anionic surfactants, instead surfactants used in the compositions are preferably amine oxides and more preferably amine oxides with a carbon chain length of 8. When formulations of the invention were prepared with other surfactants, such as alcohol ethoxylate, the efficacy of the formula was significantly reduced.

Problems solved by technology

Several such microbes / microorganisms, individually or in combination, can cause illness or other health problems, for example, when they come into contact with humans and / or animals, or when they are ingested along with food which has contacted them.

These microbes present health hazards due to infection or contamination.

Biofilms frequently consist of a number of different species of microorganisms which in turn can be more difficult to eradicate and thus more hazardous to health than individual microorganisms.

Some microorganisms also produce polysaccharide coatings, which makes them more difficult to destroy.

Without this affixing point, the reproduction of the microorganism particularly bacteria cannot proceed, or is at least seriously impaired.

Such disposable materials involve increased costs and increased waste, as well as potential safety issues associated with their disposal.

The food-preparation and delivery industry is another area in which presence of microbes (e.g., bacteria) can be problematic.

Food preparation facilities, if contaminated with microbes, can lead to contamination of food which may cause health problems when ingested.

Public and private facilities such as, e.g., restrooms, may also contain surfaces which can harbor and spread microbes, leading to potential health problems.

In the transportation industry, including land, sea, air, and space vehicles, there may also be particular surfaces which can harbor and spread microbes, leading to potential health problems.

However, such coatings may have limited lifetimes for killing or inhibiting growth of microbes.

More importantly, such coatings may often not provide a rapid and high level of microbial efficacy which could reduce the risk of microbial contaminants being transferred from one surface to another.

Further, such antimicrobial coatings may wear off to some degree when exposed to various environments or conditions (e.g., heat, abrasion, chemicals).

Such wear, which can occur rapidly, may reduce or eliminate the ability of these coatings to kill or inhibit growth of microbes over time.

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