Evaluating Our Disinfectant in a Primary Care Setting
The aim of the case study was to benchmark the level of soiling / organic matter at multiple locations within a GP surgery and to compare the level of soiling at these locations before and after cleaning and disinfection.
Adenosine Tri-Phosphate (ATP) swab testing was performed at each test location and provides an objective measure of cleanliness. ATP swab test locations were chosen to represent variations in frequency of human contact, frequency of intensive cleaning and relevance to the healthcare process (i.e. the sphygmomanometer representing a frequently used, healthcare-related location; children’s toy bricks representing a less frequently used, non-healthcare related location).
In each test location ATP swab tests were taken for several weeks before the application of the disinfectant This provided a background ATP reading which could be used as a ‘benchmark’ against which the impact of our disinfectant could be measured.
All swabbing was performed at the end of the working day, same day of the week, before the daily cleaning process.
No alterations were made in the standard cleaning processes in the buildings. Standard cleaning consisted of a two-stage process involving a wipe over with neutral detergent, followed by a wipe over with a sodium hypochlorite solution (at 1000ppm available chlorine).
In week four, cleaning at the test sites was performed using our disinfectant in place of the standard cleaning process, and ATP swabs were taken 20 minutes after application. In subsequent weeks the normal cleaning regime was resumed and routine samples were taken from the same locations, at the same time of day and day of the week. The evaluation took place over an 8 week period with our disinfectant being used only once - at the beginning of week 4.
ATP bioluminescence uses Relative Light Units (RLU) to quantify the level of soiling / organic matter present on a surface. In broad terms, lower ATP scores equate to a cleaner surface with less organic matter / soiling.
The following RLU levels were used to interpret the swab test results:-
0-150 = Acceptable autoclaved levels for surgical instruments
151-300 = Acceptable in intensive or deep cleaning procedures
301-500 = Acceptable level for food surface production locations and equipment
501-1000 = Clean domestic surfaces
1,001-10,000 = Infrequently cleaned and unsafe surfaces
10,001+ = Highly contaminated and unsafe surfaces
Conclusion
Based on the data presented, our single step cleaning process using our disinfectant when sprayed can create and maintain cleaner environments when compared to a standard two-step cleaning regime using neutral detergent followed by sodium hypochlorite.
This application was only using a simple spray method and not electrostatic spray which will provide improved three-dimensional coverage.
