title: Safety studies conducted on a sanitizing agent containing benzalkonium chloride.
abstract: Free N Clear is a sanitizing agent composed of United States Pharmacopeial Convention grade benzalkonium chloride (BAC), acetic acid, and methylparaben. Free N Clear is proposed for use as a sanitizing agent at a 1: 50 dilution (2% solution), which contains approximately 100 ppm BAC. As part of a program to assess its safety, a 2% solution of Free N Clear (diluted Free N Clear) was administered by gavage to Sprague-Dawley rats for 91d and tested for genetic toxicity in vitro and in vivo. In the 91d study, the no observable adverse-effect level of diluted Free N Clear in male and female Sprague-Dawley rats is 5000 mg/kg bw/day, the highest dose administered. Diluted Free N Clear was not mutagenic in a bacterial reverse mutation assay that tested concentrations extending into the toxic range, and did not increase the frequency of micronucleated polychromatic erythrocytes in bone marrow cells of male or female Sprague-Dawley rats when tested at the maximum permissible dose volume of 20 mL/kg bw. The results support safety of Free N Clear, when used at the concentration proposed for use.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The significance of these findings will allow for the development of Free N Clear as a potential sanitizing agent for food.
authors.affiliation: Burdock Group, Orlando, FL 32801, USA.
authors.forename: Laurie C
authors.initials: LC
authors.lastname: Dolan
authors.forename: Jack A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Wheeler
authors.forename: George A
authors.initials: GA
authors.lastname: Burdock
mesh_terms: D019342:Acetic Acid / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000032:analysis; D000818:Animals; D001548:Benzalkonium Compounds / Q000009:adverse effects* / Q000032:analysis; D003257:Consumer Product Safety; D004249:DNA Damage / Q000187:drug effects; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D005260:Female; D005506:Food Contamination / Q000517:prevention & control; D005516:Food Microbiology; D005520:Food Preservatives / Q000009:adverse effects* / Q000032:analysis; D017408:Guidelines as Topic; D008297:Male; D015162:Micronucleus Tests; D009153:Mutagens / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000032:analysis; D010226:Parabens / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000032:analysis; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D018675:Toxicity Tests
chemical_list: D001548:Benzalkonium Compounds; D005520:Food Preservatives; D009153:Mutagens; D010226:Parabens; C015358:methylparaben; D019342:Acetic Acid