PLATT’S CHLORIDES
Report of the Council on Pharmacy and Chemistry
The Council has authorized publication of the following report on “Platt’s Chlorides.” It also declares the preparation inadmissible to New and Nonofficial Remedies because its composition is uncertain and indefinite and because the claims made for it are exaggerated and misleading.
W. A. Puckner, Secretary
“Platt’s Chlorides,” marketed by Henry B. Platt, New York, is sold as a disinfectant and germicide. Only incomplete and contradictory statements have been made in regard to its composition. Many years ago (about 1899) the composition of Platt’s Chlorides was given as “The Chlorids of Zn 40 per cent., Pb 20, Ca 15, Al 15, Mg 5, K 5.” The statement that the preparation contained 20 per cent. of lead chlorid is interesting, in view of the fact that lead chlorid is soluble in water at ordinary temperatures to the extent of less than 1 per cent. In a booklet, also issued a number of years ago, the following “Formula of Platt’s Chlorides” was given:
“A saturated solution of Metallic Chlorids combined in the following proportions:
| “Sol. Zinc Chlorid | 40 | per cent. |
| “Sol. Aluminum Chlorid | 15 | per cent. |
| “Sol. Lead Chlorid | 20 | per cent. |
| “Sol. Calcium Chlorid | 15 | per cent. |
| “Sol. Magnesium Chlorid | 5 | per cent. |
| “Sol. Potassium Chlorid | 5 | per cent.” |
The label on a bottle purchased in 1911, describes Platt’s Chlorides as:
“A Highly Concentrated Solution of the Chlorids of Aluminum, Calcium, Lead, Zinc, etc.”
The label of a bottle purchased in 1919 reads:
“Contains Inert Material: Water 84.0%. Sodium Chlorid 4.8%. Calcium Chlorid 0.3%.”
This statement is obviously made to meet the requirements of the federal Insecticide Act. This law requires either that the identity and the amounts of potent ingredients in disinfecting preparations be declared or else that the percentage of the inert ingredients of such preparations be given. The omission from the label of all statements with regard to the potent ingredients of the preparation and the absence of such a statement in recent advertising matter suggests either that the older statements about its composition were false or else that the composition has been changed.
Tscheppe published (Pharmaceutische Rundschau 8:109, 1890) an analysis of Platt’s Chlorides which has been quoted in other publications as indicating the composition of the preparation. He reported that he found each quart of the preparation to contain aluminum sulphate 6 ounces, zinc chlorid 11⁄3 ounces, sodium chlorid 2 ounces, calcium chlorid 3 ounces.
Some years ago (about 1911) the company made the following statement relative to the germicidal power (phenol co-efficient) of Platt’s Chlorides:
“... for some time the carbolic acid co-efficiency of our output has been from 2.5 to 4.3, the average being about 3; namely about three times stronger than pure carbolic acid.”
In 1912, the U. S. Public Health and Marine Hospital Service reported (Bulletin 82, Public Health and Marine Hospital Service, p. 69) that the phenol coefficient of a sample of Platt’s Chlorides was so low that it could not be determined and also that the sample was found to contain some mercuric chlorid. In 1913, the North Dakota Agricultural Experiment Station reported (Bulletin, July, 1913, p. 292), that Platt’s Chlorides contained principally zinc chlorid, also some aluminum chlorid, calcium chlorid, and traces of mercuric chlorid. The phenol coefficient, determined by the Hygienic Laboratory method, was found to be 0.05.
The preceding suggests that the composition of Platt’s Chlorides had been changed (without notice to the consumer) and that it had been fortified by the addition of mercuric chlorid. Years ago part of the advertising of this product was a testimonial from a health official which declared that, for disinfection, “bichlorid of mercury is useless in disinfecting sputum or discharges from the bowels, being rendered inert by the albumin present” and it lauded Platt’s Chlorides as devoid of such drawbacks.
RECENT ANALYSES OF PLATT’S CHLORIDES
To determine the present composition of Platt’s Chlorides and to compare it with that sold formerly, the A. M. A. Chemical Laboratory has made an analysis of a specimen purchased in 1919 and also of one purchased in 1911 and since kept unopened in the files of the Council on Pharmacy and Chemistry. The following table contains the results of these analyses (all quantities given are Gm. per 100 c.c.):
| 1911 Specimen | 1919 Specimen | ||
| Color | Colorless | Straw Color | |
| Odor | None | None | |
| Specific Gravity at 25 Cc. | 1.1229 | 1.1313 | |
| Total Solids (residue at 100 Cc.) | 16.49 | 18.33 | |
| Chlorid (Cl-) | 7.60 | 10.74 | |
| Sulphate (SO4- -) | 1.11 | .16 | |
| Aluminum (Al+++) | .22 | .90 | |
| Calcium (Ca++) | .19 | .13 | |
| Zinc (Zn++) | 5.11 | 3.93 | |
| Lead (Pb++) | .046 | Traces | |
| Mercury (Hg++) | ....... | .0086 | |
| Sodium (Na+) | 1.01 | 1.39 |
These quantities transposed to hypothetical combinations would indicate that Platt’s Chlorides has the following composition:
| 1911 Specimen | 1919 Specimen | ||
| Aluminum Sulphate | 1.32 | .18 | |
| Aluminum Chlorid | .07 | 4.29 | |
| Calcium Chlorid | .54 | .37 | |
| Zinc Chlorid | 10.66 | 8.19 | |
| Lead Chlorid | .06 | Traces | |
| Mercury Chlorid | ....... | .0116 | |
| Sodium Chlorid | 2.57 | 4.81 | |
| Hydrogen Chlorid | .43 | None |
In the past, the advertising has suggested, more or less directly, that, as chlorinated lime (bleaching powder) may be made to give off chlorin gas which disinfects, so the air in a room may be disinfected by evaporating Platt’s Chlorides. Thus the label of the 1911 specimen contains the following:
“For Store Rooms, Refrigerators, and Closets, keep a sponge saturated with the pure liquid in a saucer on an upper shelf.”
On the label of the 1919 specimen, the statement reads:
“Refrigerators and Storerooms—As a disinfectant wash regularly with one part Chlorides to eight of water. As a deodorant, keep in an open vessel a sponge or cloth saturated with the Chlorides full strength.”
That the owner of Platt’s Chlorides really believes that the vapors of the preparation have disinfecting properties is seen from a letter over the name of Henry B. Platt printed in the New York Tribune in 1916. This read, in part:
“... by keeping in a dish or saucer on radiators Platt’s Chlorides diluted one-half, the hot solution will evaporate and purify the air, thus destroying the grip germ which is the cause of all the trouble.”
From the analysis of Platt’s Chlorides, it is evident that when the preparation is evaporated, water vapor only escapes.[133] Whatever disinfecting or germicidal action the preparation may possess is exercised only when the solution is brought in direct contact with the substance to be disinfected.
The aluminum and zinc salts present may be useful as deodorants but they are not effective as germicides. The presence of mercuric chlorid in a concentration of 1 to 10,000 is hardly to be considered as materially increasing the efficiency. The directions recommend the use of a mixture of 1 part of Platt’s Chlorides to 10 parts of water for rinsing the hands, and a mixture of 1 part to 4 parts of water for the disinfection of discharges. It is further stated that 1 quart makes 2 gallons sufficiently strong for general use. It is evident that such dilutions decrease considerably the feeble germicidal action of the original fluid.—(From The Journal A. M. A., March 27, 1920.)