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testing methods
The antimicrobial effect of the finishes and applications on textiles, plastics and coatings must be able to be proven and checked in terms of their effectiveness. This is done in microbiology laboratories, where, depending on the active substance and its binding mechanism to the substrate, the appropriate test standard is selected and applied in the laboratory.
Very often these are so-called agar diffusion tests, where a culture medium (agar) in a Petri dish offers the germ to be tested the ideal nutrition and growth conditions and the result is evaluated under defined temperature and humidity conditions after a certain period of time (incubation time)._cc781905- 5cde-3194-bb3b-136bad5cf58d_
Active substances that bind chemically (covalently) and thus permanently to the surface of the test article require a different detection method, since the active substance is not able to diffuse into the culture medium and show its effect there. For this purpose, germ counting methods (shake-flask tests) are used, which contain a precisely defined amount of solution with the germ to be tested in an Erlenmeyer flask (flask). A certain amount of test sample, which contains the applied active ingredient, is added to this solution. Under precisely defined conditions with regard to temperature, humidity, residence time, etc., the test solution is then examined for the remaining amounts of germs and counted using dilution series, which were reduced by up to 99.99% if applied correctly.
A representative of special tests is the soil burial test, in which an equipped test sample is buried in soil with a precisely defined composition and left there for several months. It is important to assess how much the test sample decomposed or degraded during the test period.
Our microbiology and partner laboratories are able to work according to any internationally relevant test method, to interpret it and to prove the effect to our customers by means of a test certificate,
For copyright reasons, no complete test methods may be shown, but in the Services/downloads area you will find so-called "abstracts" of the test methods that provide in-depth insight.
Test Methods Overview
Agar Diffusion Tests
Shake Flask (Count) Test Methods
Special test methods
Real life test methods
Sensory Milk test
Tea bag test
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