Keep it S.A.F.E.
By Paul Girouard
Surface wipes are a dynamic product sub-category within infection prevention. In 2022 the healthcare market was an estimated $566 million, and in 2023 it is growing by double digits. It has been an arms race recently with manufacturers improving their product lines each year with new formulations and better kill claims.
When looking into available options, some use the acronym S.A.F.E. as a guideline:
- S – Simple, one product with the best combination of speed and efficacy.
- A – Alcohol-free, alcohol is a good disinfectant, but does not clean surfaces well. Additionally, there are areas within facilities that don’t want access to alcohol in formulations.
- F – Fast, the standard today has improved over the last few years and is now at 1 minute.
- E – Effective, refers to how many pathogens the formulation kills.
There is no one surface wipe formulation that is right for all environments and situations, but the goal should be to reduce complexity. Each active ingredient has its strengths and weaknesses in areas of performance. Most facilities look at the following areas for review: Broad Disinfection, Cleaning Performance, Material Compatibility, Disinfection Time, and End User Safety.
Broad Disinfection refers to how many pathogens does the disinfectant kill. Quantity is important, but there are also specific pathogens that are important to see on the label, Tuberculosis and C. Difficile are examples. Manufactures also test and list hard to kill pathogens in an effort to get an Emerging Pathogens claim. Products that contain hydrogen peroxide, bleach, or quaternary ammonium (quat) with high alcohol content are all broad-spectrum disinfectants.
Cleaning Performance is an important part of the process. Surfaces need to be cleaned in order to be properly disinfected. Some active ingredients work better than others at cleaning. Bleach and hydrogen peroxide work well at cleaning, whereas formulations with high alcohol do not perform as well.
Material Compatibility is important to facilities. Repeated cleaning and disinfecting wear on certain materials. Performance also differs between hard and soft surfaces. Quat with low-alcohol content tends to be easiest on surfaces. It’s best to refer to equipment and furniture manufacturers’ recommendations.
Disinfection Time has come down in recent years and is important for productivity. Keep in mind that you can’t be selective with kill times. The highest time listed on the label is the disinfection time for the wipe. Quats with high-alcohol content or hydrogen peroxide wipes usually perform well with disinfection times.
End User Safety is important to both the clinician and patient. There are formulations that are more caustic than others and need to be handled carefully. Formulations with high alcohol content are not recommended or have been eliminated from some facilities where they wanted limited access from specific patient populations. Behavioral health, long-term care, and correctional facilities are a few examples of these areas.
As always, there is a great opportunity to review what your customers are using and provide some needed guidance. Lean in, remove complexity, partner with one of your infection prevention suppliers to build your business and close out a successful 2023.