Hygiene Coatings

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: See Bacteria mould Fungi and Yeast

• Hospitals
• Pharmaceutical
• Hotels
• Bakeries
• Catering establishments
• Schools
• Military
• Food retail chains
• Food producers
• Food storage
• Sport centres
• Dairies
• Breweries
• Care homes
• Schools
• Institutions
• Kitchens
• Bathrooms
• Animal husbandry
• Aquaculture
• SHE, Legislation

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.

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.