Virkon Multi-Purpose Disinfectant Cleaner
VIRKON CLEANER
Virkon Multi-Purpose Disinfectant Cleaner (Pack of ten 5g tabs, or 100g powder)
Over the years, rebreather divers have used many products as breathing loop disinfectants and cleaners, often with questionable safety, uncertain efficacy, and poor material compatibility. In 2002 at the request of the Canadian Forces diving community, Defence Research and Development Canada report studied nine different disinfectants: Advance TBE, BI-Arrest, Buddy Clean, CaviCide®, Confidence, Listerine® Antiseptic, Sanizide™, TriGene II, and Virkon®. They concluded that only one, Virkon, could be primarily recommended for disinfecting rebreathers.
Virkon was developed and is manufactured at the Antec International facility in the UK, which became a DuPont company late in 2003. Virkon is has different certifications, which affect how it can be procured for different applications: on aspect of certifications is that product within a certification is identified uniquely. This has led to Virkon being sold by DuPont under three trade names: Virkon, Virkon-S and RelyOn. Virkon is the primary multi-purpose cleaner. For use in veterinary/animal livestock applications, it is sold as Virkon-S, but is identical chemically to Virkon without the -S. DuPont changed the name of the Virkon formulation for medical use to be RelyOn™ Multi-Purpose Disinfectant Cleaner. RelyOn MDC is manufactured under more strenuous production controls and quality assurance testing, making it suitable for use on humans. Both Virkon-S and RelyOn are treated as pharmaceutical products in some countries, which complicates supply, import and distribution. For use on rebreathers, the original Virkon marked product is the appropriate cleaner, and is free of import restrictions. Virkon is the only authorised chemical for cleaning Open Safety rebreathers. Use weekly, and whenever a different diver is using the rebreather.