Quats in particular have been a mainstay of environmental sanitation because they're cheap. And I think that's why they've enjoyed such a persistent popularity as consumer and professional disinfectants. I think we were not aware of their potential to cause damage. 

 

And I think that was one of the big revelations of the pandemic era that we've lived through---breathing quaternary ammonium compounds is bad for you. And they're basically surfactants, right? 

 

They're the sorts of things that we're accustomed to using in the cleaning of formulations in the kitchen and bathroom and so on. They are surfactants. And they work like all surfactants to dissolve lipid membranes. And that's the basis of their efficacy, but we didn't know that people breathing them would end up with lung damage. 

 

That’s because we'd never seen them used with the frequency and on the scale that happened in the coronavirus epidemic. So that has created an awareness of the potential hazards of cheap readily available disinfectants like chlorine bleach, like quats. 

 

And I think it's an added impetus to the move towards reliance on HOCl. And I think it was a part of the reason why the World Health Organization is saying now, HOCl should be in every country. It should be a part of the essential pharmacopeia in every nation. And I'm very pleased to see that develop.

​

-- Jeffrey F. Williams, PhD, BVSc, MRCVS, microbiologist and infectious disease expert, has devoted his career to researching, inventing and bringing to market solutions that have improved the lives and health of people all over the world. 

 

-- Professor of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics, Michigan State University (Emeritus)

 

-- Elected Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)

 

-- Holder of 30+ patents covering water treatment, disease control, odor control

 

-- Author of 200+ scientific papers and textbook chapters

 

-- Member of the Board of Counselors, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institute of Health (1984-88)

 

-- ​Chairman of a World Health Organization research committee on tropical diseases (based in Geneva) (1985-1989)

 

-- Chief Science Officer, HOCL producer that is world leader in hypochlorous acid technology and manufacturing (2014-2024)