Indigo® chlorine test strips for water, food handling, daycare, healthcare & medical device sanitizing and disinfection needs.
All come with 100 test strips per pack with a guaranteed 3 year minimum shelf life & Certificates of Analysis, Stability & SDS Statement with Certificates of Conformance available on request. Optional next day delivery in any quantity of most items.
Buy Indigo® chlorine test strips, the brand you can trust for accuracy & technical support. Call us on our toll free line for immediate assistance or e-mail us with your questions. 1 hour response is typical during business hours, M-F, slightly longer on weekends.
Hypochlorites are the most commonly used of the chlorine based disinfectants, are fast acting & economical. Sodium hypochlorite (chlorine bleach) is strongly oxidizing with a broad range antimicrobial action that can disrupt or destroy bacterial cell membranes. This happens because because cell walls of pathogenic microorganisms are negatively charged. Hypochlorite germicidal activity is directed towards important bacterial enyzmes which in turn disrupts metabolic pathways. Effectiveness of hypochlorite (chlorine bleach) solutions are reduced in the presence of organic compounds such as blood and feces. Higher concentrations are often required to break down biofilms.
Hypochlorite ion (OCl-, shown in the image below) reacts with water to form hypochlorous acid (HOCl) that is the actual disinfecting compound. The amount of hypochlorous acid and hypochlorite together equals available or free chlorine. Its broad range of antimicrobial action is unaffected by water hardness. In high enough concentration, it can effect a 5-log reduction (99.999% inactivation) in pathogenic organisms in under 10 minutes.
Hypochlorite disinfectant structure model from Indigo® Instruments. Sodium or calcium ion not shown.
Follow precision chlorine test paper instructions for guaranteed accuracy with Indigo® Chlorine Test Strips
Indigo® chlorine test strips measure concentrations ranging from 0.5ppm to 10,000ppm high levels for applications ranging from water treatment, food service, biofilms to medical devices & more. Whatever your strength requirement for chlorine bleach/hypochlorite, Indigo® chlorine test strips can confirm your disinfectant solutions are correctly diluted for optimum effectiveness. Get the best chlorine test strips for your application.
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Note: All test strips Made in the USA & are Q/A'd against NIST standards.
Chlorine (sodium hypochlorite) is the most popular sanitizing/disinfecting chemical for hard surfaces especially where food is prepared. Iodine, also a halogen, is listed below but is used relatively rarely by comparison.
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Warning. Chlorine use in sanitation and disinfection has rare cases of serious toxicity but careful handling is nevertheless recommended. Fumes from undiluted household bleach can cause eye irritation. Ingestion can cause oropharyngeal, esophageal & gastric burns. Nitrile gloves, safety glasses and lab coat/apron are the minimum recommended PPE (personal protective equipment) for handling concentrated chlorine bleach.
Never mix chlorine bleach-sodium hypochlorite with ammonia based cleaners which can release toxic levels of ammonia and chlorine gas
Consult first aid instructions on bleach container & seek medical aid if necessary in the event a spill or mishap.
The biochemical mechanisms for chlorine's microbiocidal properties are not well understood. They range from breaking disulfide bridges that occur between cysteines (an amino acid) in enzymes, decreased production of ATP (the energy transfer molecule in cells), to breaks in the bonds in the DNA double helix strands.
Paper chlorine test strips never expire; the expiration date is only for stock rotation purposes. Plastic backed chlorine test strips have a guaranteed 3 year shelf life. If unopened, they can last nearly 10 years. With proper storage, chlorine test strips are good long after the stated expiration date. For more information see our blog: Test Strip Expiration Dates; Good Today, Dead Tomorrow?
Test strips are typically accurate to within +/- 10% which is typical of a semi-quantitative detection method. Fully quantitative techniques like titration can be better many times better.
All Indigo® plastic chlorine test strips measure available (free) hypochlorite ions + hypochlorous acid. Paper based chlorine bleach test strips measure free & bound chlorine.
Any of our chlorine bleach test strips can be used at home. However, you do need to have some idea of the concentration range you are aiming for.
It is very cheap; you can use off the shelf chlorine bleach (Chlorox) for a wide range of applications. If heavily diluted, it will still kill bacteria but is not toxic to humans.
Municipal drinking water should only have residual levels of chlorine, less than 4 ppm (4 mg/L). If you are still concerned, fill a jug & keep it in the fridge for 24 hours with the pour spout open to air. Dissolved chlorine comes of out solution readily.
1 ppm of chlorine in drinking or pool water should kill these amoebae in 10 minutes.
The 0-10ppm residual strips should be sufficient for tap water which is supposed to be limited to 4 ppm (4 mg/L) or less.