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199
[1909
In 1895 45 tons of powder, 7,535 gallons of disinfecting fluid, and 95 gallons
of clear carbolic acid were used by the department and distributed among the
public, at a cost of £1,343.
In 1896 the Medical Officer of Health formed a very definite opinion that
nearly all the disinfectants distributed to the public were used in their house
drains, sinks, w.c.'s, etc., in a wasteful manner, and were of little or no
use in the prevention of infection, because they were used unscientifically and
ignorantly. The fact is that disinfectants can only be used to an advantage
for these purposes by skilled persons, and even then it is very uncertain
that they are of any real utility except in the cloaking of unpleasant smells.
The Medical Officer of Health therefore took the responsibility of ordering
that no more disinfectants should be distributed to the public unless
there was some special reason for doing so. The result was that only 10 tons
of carbolic powder, 1,208 gallons of carbolised creosote, and 80 gallons of
clear acid, the cost of which was £151, were distributed, and even the bulk of
it was used under the supervision of the Inspectors and in the disinfection of
premises in which infectious diseases had occurred. The most satisfactory part
of this curtailment is that the borough does not appear to have suffered in
any way by his action, while the Council saves something like £1,300 per annum.
Very recently a correspondence appeared in a paper devoted to public
health questions, on the use of disinfectants, from which it would appear that
several Medical Officers of Health and others engaged in public health work
are now beginning to find out what Islington discovered 14 years ago, that disinfectants
as used by householders are of very little value in public health
administration, which is demonstrated by the fact that Islington has not suffered
in any way, for, as everyone knows, its death-rate, both from all causes and
from the zymotic diseases, has largely decreased.

Cost = £38 12s. Od.