* Cleanzine-logo-8a.jpgCleanzine: your weekly cleaning and hygiene industry newsletter 6th February 2025 Issue no. 1148

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Safer Surfaces & Preventing Transmission - IDTechEx explores antimicrobial technologies

* Safer-Surfaces.jpegAntimicrobial and antiviral materials are a versatile technology used in many sectors, including healthcare and public transportation. They can be used to prevent the spread of bacteria and viruses on surfaces where they are most likely to be passed on.

This week IDTechEx looks at over 100 companies that have developed their own antimicrobial technologies in its market research report, ‘Antiviral Antimicrobial Technology Market 2023-2033’, and also covers materials from silver, copper, and zinc to silane quaternary ammonium compounds and other alternatives.

How do antimicrobial surfaces work?

Antimicrobial materials have the ability to bind to the proteins in the cell walls and membranes of microorganisms and block the transport of essential nutrients needed for survival. They can also interact with genetic materials and prevent them from multiplying or surviving.

Antimicrobials are further able to cause oxidative damage to microorganism cell membranes, even breaking them open to ensure that the microorganisms cannot survive on surfaces such as hard plastics or textiles, proving them to be a solution to preventing the spread of bacteria and viruses.

Healthcare and the pandemic

The healthcare sector is one of the largest applications for antimicrobial surfaces. In addition to their use in medical implants to prevent infection, preventing the spread of healthcare-associated infections is another key driver. Improving patients' health, helping slow-healing wounds heal and preventing secondary infections, improves the quality of life for patients and reduces the strain on healthcare systems.

Covid-19 also triggered the rise of antiviral technologies, which take a slightly different approach to that of antibacterial technologies, as viruses are transmitted more easily through the air and through person-to-person contact. Viruses also cannot replicate unless they are inside a living cell, so antiviral surfaces work to immobilise viruses so they cannot be picked up by people but cannot ‘kill’ the viruses directly. Instead, antiviral technologies disrupt the virus, such as by blocking cell receptors, destroying nucleic acids, or replacing other metals in the virus' metalloproteins.

During the pandemic, scientists found that the Covid-19 virus could survive for up to 72 hours on plastic but was not detectable after four hours on copper surfaces, highlighting the importance of certain materials in antiviral technologies, which IDTechEx explores further in its report.

Other industry areas of interest

In the public transport sector and amongst public touch surfaces, antimicrobial technologies can be used to improve the hygiene of surfaces that aren't regularly cleaned and which many people come into contact with throughout the day.

Helping to relieve anxieties surrounding the pandemic and in the years since, may also be possible with antimicrobial technologies as people can feel more confident in the cleanliness of public areas.

IDTechEx describes that the effectiveness and applicability of antiviral and antimicrobial technologies depends on transmission routes but that antimicrobial and antiviral technologies may be most beneficial on surfaces to protect both products and people. This latest report, ‘Antiviral and Antimicrobial Technology Market 2023-2033’, highlights silver as dominating the market, followed by SIQAC, copper and zinc, and other alternatives also successfully explored by companies, including titanium dioxide and calcium chloride.

To find out more and download sample pages, visit:

www.IDTechEx.com

10th October 2024




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