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Benzalkonium Chloride
We currently produce a foaming hand sanitizer containing water, benzalkonium chloride, glycerin and cocamidopropyl betaine. Lately, we have not been able to get consistent results when assay testing for bzk. We use a 50% solution of BZK at 0.26% and betaine at 0.075%. We’ve tried several different variations including adjusting the pH of the batch, removing betaine, removing glycerin, removing both betaine and glycerin, replacing betaine with cocoamidopropyl hydroxysultaine but the bzk is not testing where it supposed to, usually below 0.13%. Does anyone have experience with bzk that might be able to provide some insight as to what is happening here?
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12 Replies
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What happens with BZK?
Does it precipitate out of solution? -
Visually we do not see anything precipitating out. But something is causing it to not test at the correct level. The last few batches we have tested have come out at 0.10% BZK when it should be 0.13% BZK.
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Have you checked the activity of your raw material? Have you changed suppliers? As it is difficult to obtain Benzalkonium chloride at the moment it is possible that your supplier has also changed sources.
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@ozgirl yes the raw material solution is testing at 0.55% BZK so you would think that our finished product would be testing at a higher level of BZK. I’ve tried to get in contact with our supplier but no response yet, but I’ve been using an older lot of BZK that we have had since 2018.
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@mhart123, aside from raw material specifications and manufacturing, that have been already pointed out, could it be a problem with your analytical protocol, including sample preparation?
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Hard water can cause problem.Try diluting bzk in sterile distilled water at 0.13% to check method variability and compare dilution using your water (deionized)
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@lmosca we tested competitor product that contained 0.1% BZK to see if maybe it was an error with our method and that tested at 0.098 and 0.088% BZK. The past few batches I have made we’ve added 20% more bzk and they are now testing out in spec but it is not making any sense.
@DRBOB@VERDIENT.BIZ I will try that out, thanks!
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Wondering if competitive product had chelate?
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It is the babyganics foaming hand sanitizer.
INCI: Benzalkonium Chloride (0.1%), Inactive: Water, Cetrimonium Chloride, Laurtrimonium Chloride, Dihydroxyethyl Cocamine Oxide, Glycereth-17 Cocoate, Citric Acid, Medium Chain Triglycerides, Triethyl Citrate, Citrus Reticulata (Mandarin Orange) Peel Oil, Tocopherol, Citrus Aurantium Dulcis (Orange) Peel Oil, Citrus Grandis (Grapefruit) Peel Oil
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Only possible chelate is citric acid even though likely used to adjust PH
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Someone had mentioned that benzalkonium chloride and betaine react together to form benzoic acid and maybe thats falling out of solution, but I can’t find any information supporting that, thoughts?
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Never saw or knew of it and don’t see it
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