Everyday unnoticed by most of us, legions of people engage in a hard battle against invisible enemies. On one side, there are beings ready to attack at the first opportunity. On the other side, men and women are paying attention to any sign of danger. The strategy to fight these beings, which can multiply rapidly by millions, is threefold action: cleaning, disinfection and sterilization. The weapons used in this battle are chemical.

Yes, that’s it. The chemical "weapons" are essential in the battle against microorganisms. In our day-to-day life, few of us perceive the importance of using, in our homes and in our working places, chemical products like, for instance, the ammonium quaternary, with disinfecting power. Besides, of course, the alkylbenzene sulfonate, used to remove fat and residues of all kinds – the preferred medium by 10 of 10 microorganisms.

In hospitals and clinics, this is a question taken very seriously. Who has not heard about hospital infection? Yeah. It is scary even to think about it. To fight this risk, hospitals count upon a very important ally, besides specially trained professionals: Chemistry. Examples: sodium hypochlorite is used in the disinfection of plastic, glass and rubber articles and in the decontamination of surfaces. The phenols are used in the cleaning and disinfection of walls and floors in high-risk areas, like the surgery centers. Now the glutaraldehyde, disinfectant and sterilant, is widely used in the disinfection of object sensible to heat, like lenses of medical instruments, metal and plastic articles etc. There is, still, among so many chemical "weapons", the hydrogen peroxide, well known as oxygenated water in other languages, an antiseptic that may be used, for instance, in the washing of clothes or wounds, and the enzymatic detergents for the washing of surgical instruments.

Chemistry, as you have already perceived, does not give rest to germs and bacteria. In clinics and hospitals - as well as in our homes – it is always in the battlefront fighting the microorganisms that threaten the human health. This is a battle, as we know, that demands our participation to be won every day.

Text: Luiz Carlos de Medeiros (MTb: 12.293) English version by Joe Vianna (translat@mvpisp.com)