{"id":4245,"date":"2016-04-15T08:00:05","date_gmt":"2016-04-15T14:00:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ulprospector.com\/knowledge\/?p=4245"},"modified":"2018-08-14T16:08:44","modified_gmt":"2018-08-14T22:08:44","slug":"pc-a-primer-on-antimicrobials","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ulprospector.ul.com\/4245\/pc-a-primer-on-antimicrobials\/","title":{"rendered":"A Primer on Antimicrobials"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Antimicrobials02\"The word antimicrobial was derived from the Greek words anti (against), mikros (little) and bios (life) and refers to all agents that act against microbial organisms[1]<\/a>. Antimicrobial products kill or slow the spread of microorganisms. Microorganisms include bacteria, viruses, protozoans, and fungi such as mold and mildew.<\/p>\n

Antimicrobials<\/a> are used across many applications and consist of very diverse chemistries. In water treatment, some microbes are necessary, whereas an overabundance can overwhelm a water treatment facility. Antimicrobials are used in wood <\/a>preservation; for the protection of textiles and non-wovens used in manufacture of tents; and in sporting equipment and outdoor furniture to prevent mold and mildew. They are used widely in crop protection to avoid rot and mold; molluscicides (used to control garden snails); and for preserving waterborne metalworking<\/a> fluids used to lubricate cutting edges for milling steel and other metals. In personal care, they are found in hand sanitizers, wound cleansers, dressings, etc.<\/p>\n

Antimicrobials (A-M) consist of numerous organic chemistries, as well as inorganics. Zinc oxide<\/a> has been a key ingredient for mildew protection in coatings for years. Copper<\/a> is utilized in ACQ (aqueous copper quat treatment for pressure-treated lumber which replaced arsenic-containing CCA), and had been used in now-banned ship bottom paints. Copper can be overly effective, and was discontinued for below waterline applications due to high toxicity to more-than-targeted organisms. It has been replaced by various highly-effective inorganic antimicrobials and by addressing fouling using a surface modification approach.<\/p>\n

An organotin<\/a> called tributyltin oxide (TBTO) had also been used as a marine anti-biofouling agent, but concerns over toxicity of these compounds have led to a worldwide ban by the International Maritime Organization. Fortunately, banned substances have been substituted by effective, but relatively innocuous materials. More recently, nanosilver and other metals have been found to be effective in the reduction of human odor-causing bacteria, and are incorporated into fabrics.<\/p>\n

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Looking for antimicrobials for your formulations?<\/h3>\n

Prospector has listings for antimicrobial ingredients, complete with technical data and sample request capabilities.<\/p>\n


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The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulates antimicrobial products as pesticides,<\/a> and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulates antimicrobial products as drugs\/antiseptics. As pesticides, antimicrobial products are used on objects such as countertops, toys, grocery carts, and hospital equipment. As antiseptics, antimicrobial products are used to treat or prevent diseases in people, pets, and other living things.<\/p>\n

If a product label claims to kill, control, repel, mitigate or reduce a pest, it is a pesticide regulated by the U.S. EPA.[2]<\/a> When manufacturers make this kind of claim on the label, they must also include:<\/p>\n