Originally Posted by
sweeks
I doubt this information came from John
s Hopkins Hospital because of a number of factual errors. A virus is not a "protein molecule". See
VIRUS STRUCTURE. Also, DNA is not a protein. There are "DNA" viruses and there are "RNA" viruses. Their status as "living organisms" is somewhat murky; see below. If you want to post a link to the "John
s Hopkins" source, I am prepared to eat my words.
Listerine is *not* 65% alcohol. "
Ethanol, which is toxic to bacteria at concentrations of 40%, is present in concentrations of 21.6% in the flavored product and 26.9% in the original gold Listerine Antiseptic."(Reference)
Antibodies are how we are protected against viruses. They are why we usually only get most viral infections once. They are the basis of the mechanism of action of most vaccines. See
THIS.
*Antibiotics* are not effective against viruses. Viruses aren't "alive" in the normal sense, but neither are they "dead". They can reproduce and evolve, but they require a living cell to complete their life cycle; you could think of them as parasites of a sort. (
VIRUS)
There are too many errors in the above information to have Johns Hopkins as their credible source. Sorry.
I agree that there seems to be something hinky with the information. I originally thought the weird language was just due to cut and paste errors. It seems to have some kernels of information but also errors as you have pointed out.
Originally Posted by
sweeks
You could keep the bike in the basement and wipe the contact points (well, saddle and hand grips, brake and shift levers) with anti-microbial wipes, rubbing alcohol, your dilute bleach solution (see below). Then go outside and ride, where you are safer than you are indoors with other people around. On return, wash your hands after touching any doorknobs.
I think you’ve missed the key points of profjmb’s problem. The way I read it, he doesn’t have a basement. The bike is in a common storage area and the concern is that others could have come in contact with it. He also can’t go outside. profjmb may be limited to staying inside due to his wife’s immune problems or due to “stay at home” orders but for whatever reason, he can’t go outside.
Originally Posted by
sweeks
1% is way more than necessary. Rutgers University has a page on the best ways to kill coronaviruses in your home:
LINK. They call for a quarter cup of bleach in a gallon of water. I'm too lazy to calculate the concentration, but it's quite a bit less than 1%.
Sanitizing, disinfecting and sterilizing are 3 different levels of cleaning and remove pathogens to different levels of concentration. Sanitizing is only removing about 50% of the pathogens. Disinfecting removes up to 90%. Sterilizing is complete removal. The amount of bleach in the Rutgers link you provided is enough to sanitize. About 1% is enough to disinfect. Sterilization takes full strength household bleach solutions.
There is also an issue with contact time. Simply wiping something down is pretty much a feel good action which does little to no good. There isn’t enough sodium hypochlorite in contact with the surface for long enough to do much good. Bleach (and other sanitizers) need minutes to work. Most people give it seconds. The reason that the CDC (and others) suggest soap is because you can use more of it and it stays on longer.
Here’s what they have to say about soap vs sanitizer. The quote in that link that is most applicable is this
Although alcohol-based hand sanitizers can inactivate many types of microbes very effectively when used correctly, people may not use a large enough volume of the sanitizers or may wipe it off before it has dried.
That’s where I was going about the amount of bleach that could be used for cleaning vs the amount of soap and water that can be used. profjmb can slop on as much soap and water and leave it there for as long as he likes in and quantities far in excess of what can be safely used with bleach.
Originally Posted by
August West
1/4 cup = 2 oz.
1 gal = 128 oz.
128 + 2 = 130 oz. total solution
(2/130)*100 = 1.54% concentration
Nope. C1V1=C2V2 where C= concentration and V= volume of solution.
Originally Posted by
sweeks
I like to work in metric units.
Normal bleach is between 5.25% and 6% sodium hypochlorite (NaOCl)... let's say 6%.
100 ml of 6% NaOCl contains 6 grams of NaOCl (definition of a 6% solution)
1 ml contains 0.06 grams of NaOCl
59.25 ml (a quarter cup) contains 3.6 grams of NaOCl
Now take those 3.6 grams of NaOCl and dissolve in 3785 ml (a gallon) of water.
3.6 / 3785 x 100 =
0.1% NaOCl
Someone check my math.
You took the long way around but you came to the same point. C1= 6%, V1=60 mL, V2=3700 mL. Solve for C2. Or [(6%)*60]/3700= 0.1%
But, again, that’s only the concentrations. The sanitizing “equation” has to include the kinetics of the oxidation reactions that destroys the virus. The kinetics are also going to depend on the viral load.