The authors made a bibliographical survey collecting up to — date data about the utilization of chemical disinfection in hospitals, with consideration on his advantages and limitations. Principles of chemical disinfection are studied, such, as disinfection process, necessary condition for the effectiveness of the chemical agent, criteria for selection of disinfectants. A table lists the major classes of germicides and summarizes the salient properties of each class and give recomendations for chemical disinfection of medical and surgical materials.