Introduction: As per World Health Organisation (WHO), around 1.4 million people per year are affected by hospital acquired infections. Disinfection of hospital environment and equipment plays a major role in preventing these infections. Disinfectants used in hospital and laboratories must be tested periodically to ascertain their efficacy. Aim: The study aimed to evaluate the Microbicidal Effect (ME) of some commonly available disinfectants against Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli and Candida albicans and to compare fresh versus longterm effectiveness of such disinfectants at their working concentrations. Materials and Methods: A total of seven commonly used disinfectants namely Dettol, Savlon, Cidex, Phenyl, Unilon alcoholic hand rub, Sterilium and Sodium Hypochlorite (Chlorox) were taken and working dilutions were made as per manufacturer’s guidelines. “Quantitative suspension test”was carried out on these disinfectants to check their ME when fresh and after storage for seven days. Statistical analysis was done using Microsoft excel 2010 and SPSS version 2020. Results: Cidex and Sodium Hypochlorite came out to be highly effective with ME of 7 and 6, respectively when used fresh followed by Phenyl, Sterilium, Unilon alcoholic Hand rub, Savlon and Dettol. All the disinfectants showed markedly decreased ME on long-term storage for seven days as compared to fresh preparation (p-value 0.05). Conclusion: To conclude, a variety of disinfectants with different mechanisms of action are available in the market. All disinfectants tend to have decreased ME on standing. Therefore, it is advisable to test the efficacy of working dilutions of disinfectants on regular basis to ensure good disinfection at all times.
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