Is there a chemist in the house?
If so, I need your help. I’m supposed to have a bactericide here at work. I have this chemical in the cupboard and it’s the only one I have which I don’t recognise. It’s MSDS sheet claims it to be really toxic.
Also, how should I use it? It’s in the form of a sticky paste and the stuff I use is a liquid. I guess I have to dilute it with something. All I have is water, iso propyl alcohol, acetone and a little methonol.
Just clarifying: You’re looking for instructions for how to convert the alkylbenzyldimethyl ammonium chloride that you already have in a paste form into a liquid, so as to use it as a bactericide?
Er…is this something you really ought to be doing yourself? Is it an emergency? You’re not even sure it’s the right chemical you’re supposed to be using? What do you need to disinfect?
[remembering that it’s New Year’s Eve in many parts of the world]
…you’re not drunk, are you?
Alas, I’ve been at work since 11 pm local time 
It is kind of an emergency, but for some strange reason, our office is closed today :rolleyes:
I need to prevent mud from getting infected, he added mysteriously.
I am not a chemist, but have been trained to the level of HazMat technician. Here is a link to some online data regarding the product, and I’d strongly urge you to verify that the CAS# of your MSDS and the link provided match.
http://ptcl.chem.ox.ac.uk/MSDS/BE/benzalkonium_chloride.html
If we’re both speaking of the same product it is quite toxic. Unless you’re sure of what you’re using, and why, I wouldn’t go there.
One final comment: [Pedant hat] The S after MSD stands for sheet. No need to use the word ‘sheet’ after MSDS. [/Pedant hat]
Bacteriocides are often toxic. Check the MSDS for Phenol (carbolic acid). It was once widely used in hospitals, but it’s nasty stuff.
Similarly, your bacteriocidal (more commonly called “benzalkonium chloride” or Triton K-60) is used as a consumer diaper rash cream (Drapolene is 0.01% benzalkonium chloride in a greasy but water miscible cream base) eye drops (Enuclene: a viscous water-based eye lubricant with 0.02% benzalkonium chloride) and other delicate uses. It’s used as a hospital disinfectant (e.g. various “strengths” of Germitol are different mixtures of roughly 5% Benzalkonium chloride with various mixtures of other bacteriocidal agents.) Note that that’s hundreds of times more concentrated.
While I’m reassured that you apparently aren’t using it in a human or food- related application, I can’t recommend using it willy-nilly in an experiment. Standardized methods are your friend. You say it’s is a specifically recommended chemical in your protocol. The intended formulation must be listed in either a procedures/reagents notebook or whatever paper you got the recommendation from.
It is widely used as a water-miscible medical disinfectant, but without at least a standard dilution, you might just mess up your experiment. Does your protocol, perhaps, list a brand name? You can look that up to get a desired strength.