Innovation Partners for Aerobiology & Biomedical Research

Gabriel Scientific, in conjunction with airmid healthgroup, launched The Pillow Check Up 2013 on RTE Radio 1’s The Mooney Show on the 17th of April.

Listeners were invited to send their pillows for analysis at airmid healthgroup’s laboratories to measure the levels of mould, allergens and bacteria present in pillows around Ireland. The results revealed that one third of pillows sampled had evidence of dust mite allergen. All of the pillows were found to harbour bacteria, just under a third of which at high levels, while half contained detectable levels of mould. A variety of mould and bacterial species were identified including Candida, Aspergillus, Rhodoltorula, and Streptococcus.

There is a bewildering array of ISO and ASTM antimicrobial surface validation studies and a whole host of biocidal activity testing available. It can be very complex for companies to navigate their way through this and the results they get may not always translate into market valuable data. Control of indoor pathogens on surfaces and in the air is a highly topical issue, so we have asked John Fallon PhD, Head of Microbiology at airmid healthgroup, to talk us through some of the testing they do at the laboratory and the relevance of this testing. This blog is transcribed from an interview with John on three of the most commonly used ISO antimicrobial surface validation tests.

John, what exactly is an antimicrobial surface?

The Filtech Conference in Wiesbaden, Germany was held last week from Tuesday 13^th to Thursday 15^th October. Dr. Tim Yeomans from Allergy Standards Limited was among the attendees of this biennial international conference. With over 160 exhibitors and many more delegates, this conference is a must for those involved in the filtering and particle industry. Exhibitors ranged from primary manufacturers of filter media, to those manufacturing finished product filters and producers of cutting edge particle monitors.