In high-cleanliness areas, microbial contamination can compromise product quality, research outcomes, and operational efficiency. Traditional cleaning methods, which rely on chemical disinfectants, are essential but may not provide enough protection on their own, especially when maintaining strict cleanliness is crucial.
Disinfectants only work for a limited time after application, leaving high-traffic areas and frequently touched surfaces vulnerable between cleaning sessions. While manual cleaning is effective, it offers only temporary results. High-cleanliness areas need continuous protection to prevent microbial growth, especially on frequently exposed surfaces.
Antimicrobial additives disrupt essential functions, rendering cells unable to consume nutrients, produce waste, or reproduce
Unlike antibiotics, which usually work for short periods, antimicrobials work continuously. This keeps organisms from surviving and evolving into resistant strains. This is where antimicrobial efficacy becomes indispensable, providing ongoing defence between cleaning cycles.
Understanding the role of antimicrobial additives
Antimicrobial additives are formulations that include active ingredients with properties that inhibit microbial growth. Agents like silver or zinc work continuously to combat the presence of microbes on surfaces, providing an added layer of defence against stains, odours, and premature wear and deterioration of the products into which they are incorporated.
When microbes encounter a treated surface, the antimicrobial additive interferes with the cell metabolism and disrupts its essential functions, rendering them unable to consume nutrients, produce waste, or reproduce. This significantly reduces microbial activity over time, protecting the surface from the growth of harmful bacteria, mould, and mildew.
Antimicrobial additives are effective against a broad spectrum of bacteria and fungi and can be seamlessly integrated into various material types, including plastics, coatings, ceramics, and textiles, during manufacturing processes.
Antimicrobials work continuously, giving no chance for microbes to reproduce and evolve into new resistant forms
The active agent remains safe and effective for the usable lifetime of the finished product, never washing away or leaching out, becoming an intrinsic feature of the products and surfaces that include this technology.
This built-in protection works continuously to inhibit the growth of bacteria, fungi, and other harmful microorganisms. Antimicrobial technology does not replace the need for regular cleaning and disinfecting, but it provides a crucial additional layer of defence that can significantly reduce the microbial load in between cleaning cycles.
These technologies are particularly effective in environments where strict contamination control is essential.
Antimicrobials and antibiotics target harmful microorganisms, but they operate in fundamentally different ways, which impacts how resistance can develop.
Sticky mats and rollers are commonly used in facilities such as hospitals, laboratories and entrances to cleanrooms
Antibiotics will leave a treated subject after a period of time, while antimicrobials are directly integrated and become part of a treated subject. If there are any survival organisms present with antibiotics, the next generation can develop resistance.
On the other hand, antimicrobials work continuously, giving no chance for microbes to reproduce and evolve into new forms.
To date, there is no substantiated evidence of the development of antimicrobial resistance microbes, making antimicrobials a robust solution for environments that demand long-term microbial control.
Real-world applications: Food processing
One hygiene-critical environment where it is vital to minimise the survival and growth of contaminating microbes is food processing. Microbial contaminants can enter the food processing chain from many sources – air, water, raw materials, equipment, pests, and people – and at various points in the process, leaving the work environment, surfaces, and foods exposed to bacteria and fungi.
Once microbes enter the food processing chain, they can rapidly multiply and persist on surfaces if preventive action is not taken, magnifying the effects of any hygiene lapse.
This represents a major challenge for food processors, as microbial contamination can cause critical issues with product safety and quality, resulting in damaging recalls, and deterioration of the physical infrastructure of the food production facility.
According to a 2021 Xtalks webinar featuring Microban, a poll of webinar participants revealed that 40% considered tiling on countertops, floors, and walls to be the most important application for built-in antimicrobial technology, followed by air systems – filters, ductwork, insulation – at 30%.
In high-cleanliness areas, microbial contamination can compromise product quality, research outcomes, and operational efficiency
Registered and regulated antimicrobials can be incorporated into both food and non-food contact surfaces, providing support for the conventional hygienic practices of cleaning, sanitizing, and disinfection.
Built-in antimicrobial technologies, like Microban (registered trademark) SilverShield (registered trademark) technology, leverage the antimicrobial properties of silver to provide long-lasting surface protection against the growth of bacteria, mould and mildew.
Microban antimicrobial technology works at a cellular level, continually disrupting the growth and reproduction of microorganisms. It operates a multi-modal attack on the microbe, disrupting protein activity and DNA replication, and destroying the bacterial cell wall and membrane to cause cell death.
Integrated during manufacturing, this "always on" technology becomes a permanent feature that remains effective throughout the product's lifespan. It works in tandem with regular cleaning protocols, helping manufacturing facilities maintain cleaner, more hygienic food processing environments.
Traditional cleaning methods, which rely on chemical disinfectants, are essential but may not provide enough protection on their own
Built-in antimicrobial technologies can also help reduce waste by minimising food contact with non-hygienic surfaces, as contaminated food must often be discarded.
Water usage is reduced as the technology helps sustain a hygienic environment, allowing for better allocation of resources in cleaning processes without lowering their frequency.
From enhancing antimicrobial protection to promoting greener workflows, implementing built-in technologies in the food industry is a win-win situation.
Real-world applications: Healthcare and commercial
Antimicrobial efficacy also has applications in other high-cleanliness settings, including healthcare and commercial offices, which face constant challenges in contamination control.
In these sectors, maintaining high standards of cleanliness is not only important for safety, but also for consumer trust and brand reputation.
For instance, Microban has partnered with Scapa Industrial to add antimicrobial technology to their Trim Tack (registered trademark) Sticky Mats and Scapa (registered trademark) Sticky Rollers.
This added layer of product protection against the growth of bacteria, mould and mildew is active 24/7 and will not wash off, wear away or fade with time. This antimicrobial product protection acts on the cell wall of each microbe to inhibit its ability to grow and reproduce, helping the product fight the degrading effects of microbial activity.
In environments that require strict cleanliness, antimicrobial technology offers a proactive solution by providing continuous protection against microbial growth between cleaning routines
Sticky mats and rollers are commonly used in facilities such as hospitals, laboratories and entrances to cleanrooms, for everything from floors and walls to tabletops and cabinets.
Microbes can cause major problems in these sensitive environments, but the combination of Scapa’s Trim Track adhesive technology – which removes dirt, debris, and microbes from footwear and wheeled traffic – and the antimicrobial technology from Microban will provide an extra level of cleanliness control to help keep these areas cleaner.
Summit Medical has partnered with Microban to enhance infection control by integrating Microban antibacterial product protection into its MARLUX (registered trademark) recyclable privacy curtains. This partnership helps prevent and reduce the growth of microorganisms as part of broader infection control strategies.
Microban silver ion technology is integrated into the non-woven polypropylene curtains at the stage of manufacture. The formulation works 24/7 to actively eliminate up to 99.99% of bacterial growth on the surface of the curtain without sacrificing material durability or longevity.
The result is a curtain that remains hygienically cleaner and fresher in between cleans.
The future of antimicrobials
In environments that require strict cleanliness, antimicrobial technology offers a proactive solution by providing continuous protection against microbial growth between cleaning routines.
By embedding antimicrobial agents directly into surfaces, facilities can maintain higher hygiene standards with fewer gaps, ensuring ongoing cleanliness.
Although the potential for microbial resistance should be considered, Microban’s antimicrobial solutions address this concern by combining diverse action mechanisms and thoughtful application. This technology ensures that high-cleanliness settings remain safer and more resistant to contamination.
As industries increasingly focus on hygiene and contamination control, antimicrobial technology will become integral in future strategies, delivering long-lasting and effective protection against harmful microbes.
Top image: Microbes