Antimicrobial testing of healthcare and industrial products

Abstract

For the industrial microbiologist the testing landscape comprises a plethora of standardised testing methods. Often these are to be followed rigorously according to regulatory guidelines or rules. Sometimes the product or application may require some modification of a standard method to achieve a more realistic test result. Very occasionally, a method must be developed from scratch, based upon scientific principles and, where possible, utilising approaches used in either published papers or standards. Industrial testing is usually undertaken for one of two reasons, namely development work for new products or to satisfy regulatory requirements in order to market the product. This discussion will emphasise healthcare products, other than antibiotics, but similar principles will apply to other product categories also, albeit often to a lesser degree of testing.