Benzalkonium chloride, also known as BZK, BKC, BAC, alkyldimethylbenzylammonium chloride and ADBAC, is a type of cationic surfactant. It is an organic salt called a quaternary ammonium compound. In 2011, a large clinical trial designed to evaluate the efficacy of hand sanitizers based on different active ingredients in preventing virus transmission amongst schoolchildren was re-designed to exclude sanitizers based on benzalkonium chloride due to safety concerns. Benzalkonium chloride has been in common use as a pharmaceutical preservative and antimicrobial since the 1940s. While early studies confirmed the corrosive and irritant properties of benzalkonium chloride, investigations into the adverse effects of, and disease states linked to, benzalkonium chloride have only surfaced during the past 30 years. Benzalkonium chloride is classed as a Category III antiseptic active ingredient by the United States Food and Drug Administration. Ingredients are categorised as Category III when "available data are insufficient to classify as safe and effective, and further testing is required”. Benzalkonium chloride is excluded from the current United States Food and Drug Administration review of the safety and effectiveness of consumer antiseptics and topical antimicrobial over-the-counter drug products, meaning it will remain a Category III ingredient. The mechanism of bactericidal/microbicidal action is thought to be due to disruption of intermolecular interactions. This can cause dissociation of cellular membrane lipid bilayers, which compromises cellular permeability controls and induces leakage of cellular contents. Other biomolecular complexes within the bacterial cell can also undergo dissociation. Enzymes, which finely control a wide range of respiratory and metabolic cellular activities, are particularly susceptible to deactivation. Critical intermolecular interactions and tertiary structures in such highly specific biochemical systems can be readily disrupted by cationic surfactants. Benzalkonium chloride is a human skin and severe eye irritant. It is a suspected respiratory toxicant, immunotoxicant, gastrointestinal toxicant and neurotoxicant.

Acriflavine (ACF) is a topical antiseptic. The hydrochloride form is more irritating than the neutral form. It is derived from acridine. Commercial preparations are often mixtures with proflavine. Acriflavine was developed in 1912 by Paul Ehrlich, a German medical researcher, and was used during the First World War against sleeping sickness. ACF has known trypanocidal, antibacterial, and antiviral activities. Effects of ACF on cancer cells were first reported 50 years ago. By present time was demonstrated that ACF a drug, that binds directly to HIF-1 alpha and HIF-2 alpha and inhibits HIF-1 dimerization and transcriptional activity and thus has potent inhibitory effects on tumor growth and vascularization. Also Acriflavine in combination with 3,6-diaminoacridine (proflavine) could prove to be a potential antimalarial drug and its pharmacological action can be due to inhibition of gyrase activity. This is achieved through interaction of the ACF with the DNA substrate. This interaction may lead to conformation change in DNA unsuitable for binding of gyrase with DNA.

Mupirocin (BACTROBAN®) is an antibiotic from a strain of Pseudomonas fluorescens. It has shown excellent activity against gram-positive staphylococci and streptococci. The antibiotic is used primarily for the treatment of primary and secondary skin disorders, nasal infections, and wound healing. Mupirocin inhibits bacterial protein synthesis by reversibly and specifically binding to bacterial isoleucyltransfer RNA (tRNA) synthetase. It also severely inhibits RNA synthesis. DNA and cell wall peptidoglycan synthesis are inhibited to a lesser extent and interference with these processes is considered to be a secondary effect. Mupirocin is bactericidal at concentrations achieved by topical administration.

Chlorhexidine is a broad-spectrum biocide effective against Gram-positive bacteria, Gram-negative bacteria and fungi. It is used primarily as its salts (e.g., the dihydrochloride, diacetate, and digluconate). Chlorhexidine inactivates microorganisms with a broader spectrum than other antimicrobials (e.g. antibiotics) and has a quicker kill rate than other antimicrobials (e.g. povidone-iodine). It has both bacteriostatic (inhibits bacterial growth) and bactericidal (kills bacteria) mechanisms of action, depending on its concentration. Chlorhexidine kills by disrupting the cell membrane. The most common side effects associated with chlorhexidine gluconate oral rinses are: 1) an increase in staining of teeth and other oral surfaces; 2) an increase in calculus formation; and 3) an alteration in taste perception; 4) toothache; 5) upper respiratory tract infection; and 6) headache.

Chlorhexidine is a broad-spectrum biocide effective against Gram-positive bacteria, Gram-negative bacteria and fungi. It is used primarily as its salts (e.g., the dihydrochloride, diacetate, and digluconate). Chlorhexidine inactivates microorganisms with a broader spectrum than other antimicrobials (e.g. antibiotics) and has a quicker kill rate than other antimicrobials (e.g. povidone-iodine). It has both bacteriostatic (inhibits bacterial growth) and bactericidal (kills bacteria) mechanisms of action, depending on its concentration. Chlorhexidine kills by disrupting the cell membrane. The most common side effects associated with chlorhexidine gluconate oral rinses are: 1) an increase in staining of teeth and other oral surfaces; 2) an increase in calculus formation; and 3) an alteration in taste perception; 4) toothache; 5) upper respiratory tract infection; and 6) headache.

Hexachlorophene, also known as Nabac, is an organochlorine compound that was once widely used as a disinfectant. The compound occurs as a white odorless solid, although commercial samples can be off-white and possess a slightly phenolic odor. It is insoluble in water but dissolves in acetone, ethanol, diethyl ether, and chloroform. Exact mechanism(s) of action unknown, but at low concentrations appears to interrupt bacterial electron transport and inhibit membrane-bound enzymes. Higher concentrations rupture bacterial membranes. It induces leakage, causes protoplast lysis, and inhibits respiration. In medicine, hexachlorophene is a useful as a topical anti-infective, anti-bacterial agent, often used in soaps and toothpaste. It is also used in agriculture as a soil fungicide, plant bactericide, and acaricide.

Mafenide is a sulfonamide-type medication used as an antibiotic. It is indicated for use as an adjunctive topical antimicrobial agent to control bacterial infection when used under moist dressings over meshed autografts on excised burn wounds. Mafenide is not antagonized by pABA, serum, pus or tissue exudates, and there is no correlation between bacterial sensitivities to mafenide and to the sulfonamides. A single case of bone marrow depression and a single case of an acute attack of porphyria have been reported following therapy with mafenide acetate. Fatal hemolytic anemia with disseminated intravascular coagulation, presumably related to a glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase deficiency, has been reported following therapy with mafenide acetate. Other adverse reactions are: pain or burning sensation, rash and pruritis, erythema, skin maceration from prolonged wet dressings, facial edema, swelling, hives, blisters, eosinophilia.