I noticed on the news that drivers in France are being made to disinfect thier tires by driving through hay that had been soaked in caustic soda. I looked up caustic soda on Wikipedia and it does not mention disinfectant as one of it's uses.

 

Does caustic soda often get used as a disinfectant?

How does caustic soda neutralise viruses?

NaOH is about as sterile as you can get. It's not usually used as a disinfectant because of it's charming ability to completely destroy exposed skin.

yeah it basically destroys and denatures everything living(bacteria, mold, us animals, yes even that cute little gerbil you got for christmas) or based on proteins(virii etc.) it isn't used on animals for that reason. it would also kill us.

So it breaks protiens?

Is that by reacting and forming something else out of the protien's elements? If so, then what is the result of protiens mixing with caustic soda?

Or does it denature protiens without breaking itself?

 

edit: I am using the word 'break' because I'm not sure wether to use 'destroy' or 'denature'.