Sanitizers & Disinfectants
Sanitizers and disinfectants serve different purposes. Disinfectants eliminate pathogens but are toxic to humans, while sanitizers describe agents that reduce pathogens to a safe level. The EPA labels all disinfectants and sanitizers as antimicrobial pesticides and requires safety and efficacy testing on all products before registering them. Sanitizers and disinfectant testing primarily occurs against three organisms: Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Staphylococcus aureus, and Salmonella enterica. Accugen Laboratories, Inc. offers other organisms, along with research and development studies to further improve sanitization and disinfectant products.
Disinfectants and sanitizers are tested using any of the following test methods. Some testing is on a pass/fail scale, determining whether one or more test organism survives treatment of the disinfectant. Other quantitative tests determine the percentage reduction before and after treatment by the disinfectant.
- Gram staining
- AOAC Methods
- Challenge Test
- Pseudomonas aeruginosa
- Kirby Bauer Test
- Time Kill Test
- Minimum Inhibitory Concentration (MIC)
- Minimum Bactericidal Concentration (MBC)
- Antimicrobial Effectiveness Test
- ASTM E1153
- ASTM E2315
Accugen Labs provides testing services on a variety of sanitizing and disinfecting products including:
- Soaps
- Detergents
- Alcohols
- Acids
- Chlorine
- Antiseptic creams
- Septic safe disinfectant
- Multi-surface cleaners
- Hand sanitizers
- Disinfectant Wipes