Question

What is tincture of iodine? What is its use?

Answer 1

Hint: Iodine has topical antimicrobial properties and people have been using it to treat wounds for many years. It can be used both as antiseptic and disinfectant. Elemental iodine is proved to be toxic if ingested in amounts larger than required to disinfect.

Complete step by step solution:
Tincture of iodine is a weak or dilute solution of elemental iodine with sodium iodide (NaI) or potassium iodide (KI) in water and alcohol. Ethanol is mostly used in forming the solution. Tincture of iodine is also known as ‘Iodine tincture’. Iodine tincture contains 2-7% of elemental iodine and the rest of the solution is constituted by either NaI or KI.
Uses of tincture of iodine:
-It acts primarily as an antiseptic and can be applied on cuts, scrapes and acute wounds.
-It is often added in water as disinfectant against microbes like bacteria and viruses but is not effective against protozoan parasites. However, it is known to supply nutritional iodine 30 times more than the recommended allowance per day per litre.
-It can also be used to sanitize the outer surfaces of fruits, vegetables and other edible products.
-It is found in first aid kit and emergency survival kit to disinfect wounds. It is made available in the survival kits because it can disinfect surface water and make it fit for drinking.

Additional Information: Antiseptics and disinfectants are often used interchangeably but they are slightly different. Antiseptics are used on the body of living organisms whereas disinfectants are used on non living objects.

 Note: Both tincture of iodine and elemental iodine are used as antiseptic. Iodine tincture is produced from elemental iodine by diluting it with water and alcohol.