The "hygienic surface" concept has become an issue of growing commercial interest. The control of harmful micro-organisms in the community may incur costs
exceeding 2 billion euro per annum and collateral costs from illness and product spoilage could far exceed this value.
Surface coatings for hygiene control - systems offering proven long term protection
against the growth of mould, bacteria and other harmful micro-organisms. Complying with all relevant international legislation, LPL hygiene systems are water based, non-leaching and suitable for uses wherever stringent hygiene controls must be observed.
Avoiding infection from
surface contact is vital in particular environments, for example:
Potential methods of controlling microbial contamination range from easy cleanable surfaces, through biocide impregnated surface films, to the advanced technologies of
photo-activated anti-microbial coatings. However there is no consensus as to the efficiency of these approaches and their robustness to in-service life challenges. Further, although there are a number of techniques for
quantifying bacterial contamination on surfaces, their effectiveness needs to be established and standard test procedures developed.
The problems surrounding production of hygienic coatings are exacerbated by
legislation (eg the EC Biocidal Products Directive), designed to restrict the availability and use levels of antimicrobial additives.
A recent report by
Freedonia concluded that US demand for disinfectant and antimicrobial chemicals will reach £300 M by 2005. Paints and coatings are predicted to remain the largest market for antimicrobial additives, supported by the
trend toward water-based and low-solvent coating formulations which require greater antimicrobial protection.
Although a large growth is predicted in antimicrobial chemicals,
there is also a drive to use mechanical processes, such as ultraviolet radiation: this arises out of fears of counter-productivity of over-using disinfectants in cleaning operations.
The Importance of Hygienic Coatings
In the UK, 9% of hospital patients leave hospital with an infection
acquired during their stay: as a result at least 5,000 of them will die every year. Furthermore, three-quarters of doctors believe that hospital hygiene rules are routinely broken
Another hugely important area is food
safety: the European Commission has launched its latest funding: one programme area (worth euro 600M) will concentrate on food safety and health risks.
In
addition, the UK government is to put £42 M towards the advancement of measurement technology, including the measurement of proteins and bacteria.
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