70% ethanol to disinfect - why 70% (Nov/22/2010 )

There was once a long thread here about this topic, seems as if it was in the old forum.
Anyway: The book "Disinfection, sterilization, and preservation" by Seymour Stanton Block (Lea & Febiger, 1991) has a chapter about alcohols (chapter 12) and their concentrations and mode of actions. You can (at least here) read it partly in google books, or your library has it.
And here a link to a short text

After much search, I ended up troubling my supervisor, who was kind enough to give me the title and author of the paper. As it turns out, it was published in 1950 (before my supervisor was born) and is called THE RELATIONSHIP OF CONCENTRATION AND GERMICIDAL EFFICIENCY OF ETHYL ALCOHOL
Harry E. Morton.

Google helped me land on the following link.
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1749-6632.1950.tb31944.x/abstract

But I can't access it from here.... and it will be nice, if some one sends it back to me.... I promise to treasure it this time....

gt_ameya on Thu Nov 25 07:23:38 2010 said:

see your pm!

Hi, gebirgsziege,
can I have that as well? Thanks.

Hi hobglobin, I too uses 80%~85% alcohol on bench. Is there any way that I can get the chapter in PDF? my library doesn't have it...
Thanks.

gt_ameya on Thu Nov 25 07:23:38 2010 said:

This paper describes ethanol tested on bacterial pellets, which means it was tested on wet cells. However, it has been shown that for dry surfaces absolute alcohol might not work as a disinfectant.
Most likely that is why a water-alcohol solution is used in labs.

adrian kohsf on Thu Nov 25 08:36:26 2010 said:

From the book? Sorry, I don't have it, I use google book, that's enough for me

gebirgsziege on Thu Nov 25 08:06:56 2010 said:

If possible: can you send a copy to me too?

thanks

pito on Sat Nov 27 18:54:50 2010 said:

see your pm...

I have another question regarding the ethanol problem: should you always dilute the ethanol in demineralised water or even deionised? Or can you simply use tap water?

thanks