Thursday 24 May 2012

Peracetic Acid Test Strips


I have been asked by several customers if there is an alternative way to determine peracetic acid concentration without using the expensive test strips.

The answer is yes, there is an alternative method, but it is complicated and the savings would be limited.  The alternative method uses a titration procedure involving 5 different chemicals. You may ask “why is it so complicated?”. The reason is that peracetic acid, or peroxyacetic acid, to give it its correct name, is not a single substance, it is a mixture of hydrogen peroxide, peracetic acid and acetic acid in an equilibrium.

The balance of the three components may change at different temperatures or at different concentrations of the product.  The hydrogen peroxide and peracetic acid components mutually interfere with simple titration procedures, hence the requirement for the complex procedure. The chemicals are expensive because they are analytical grade materials. The test strips cover 100 determinations and are more cost effective and less prone to operator error.

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