Technical Information

What You Should Know About Biocides

Antimicrobial agents are a class of biocides that kill or control the proliferation of microorganisms that cause and spread disease. Generally they have a broad spectrum of kill. The many chemical classes of antimicrobial agents currently sold all have distinct performance profiles, but they share one characteristic–they are lethal to microorganisms under some useful set of circumstances that makes them a viable, commercial entity in the marketplace. Practically any antimicrobial agent will be effective if used in high enough concentration over a long enough period of time. The commercial success of an antimicrobial agent in a given application is dependent on optimizing its efficacy (scope of kill), speed (of kill), safety, and cost. Specific considerations include its environmental toxicity and persistence, material compatibility such as metal corrosiveness, chemical stability in formulation, and consumer organoleptic properties as scent and sensitivities. Negative characteristics may severely limit the utility of an otherwise effective formulation. Striking the required balance between its various shortcomings and the attributes that make it effective and safe for the job at hand is the challenge. That various formulations maintain their market growth rates, despite the serious draw-backs that they may have, is evidence of the demand for antimicrobial products. Pressure has been building against the use of a number of traditional antimicrobial products that have long been in the market place. Demands continue for increasingly explicit labeling, for controlled and recorded disposal of compounds with known toxic profiles, and in particular for greater assurances of user and environmental safety to reduce health threats and emissions of toxic chemicals in formulations of disinfecting, sanitizing, and cleaning products. EnviroSystems is dedicated to providing to its markets products that are effective, safe for the environment, safe for the user, and safe for its contact surfaces.