Laundry Additives - Disinfection and Sanitization
DIS/TSS-13, April 4, 1980
EFFICACY DATA AND LABELING REQUIREMENTS
Laundry Additives - Disinfection and Sanitization
The following requirements apply to antimicrobial products which bear
label claims or recommendations for use in the treatment of laundry to
provide disinfecting or sanitizing activity for fabrics and/or laundry
water. Label claims must distinguish between products recommended as soaking
treatments prior to laundering and products represented as additives in
actual laundry operations.
(a) Pre-soaking treatments. Products recommended
for pre-soaking soiled fabrics prior to routine laundering must be shown
to be effective by appropriate tests (e.g. AOAC Use Dilution Method for
disinfectants; Sanitizer Test for inanimate non-food contact surfaces
for sanitizers) in the presence of organic soil (e.g. 5% blood serum).
The directions for use must specify rinsing of the items to remove gross
filth prior to soaking, followed by complete immersion in an adequate
volume of soaking solution (at least 5:1 w/w solution to fabric ratio,
e.g. half a washload in a 3 - gallon pail) at the recommended use dilution
for a specified contact time prior to the laundering operation.
(b) Laundry operations. A clear distinction should
be made on the label between products recommended for household and coin-operated
laundering and products represented as commercial-industrial-institutional
laundry additives. The water to fabric ratio in home or coin-operated
machines is about 10:1 (w/w), whereas in industrial laundering operations
the ratio is about 5:1. The effectiveness of products may be significantly
altered by these differences; thus, demonstrated e£ficacy in one system
may not be able to be extrapolated to the other. In addition, directions
for use of household laundering products may require different dosages
for front-loading automatics (e.g. 8-10 gallon water capacity) and top-loading
automatics and wringer-type washers (e.g. 12-15 gallon water capacity).
Product dosages, in this instance, should be specified in household measurements.
Dosage instructions for industrial laundering may be based on pounds of
dry fabric.
The directions for use of laundry additives should specify the machine
cycle in which the product is to be added, water level, temperature range,
and treatment time. Compatibility of the treatment with other common laundry
additives (e.g. soaps, detergents, bleach, starch, bluing, sours, fabric
softeners) should be determined in testing and addressed in labeling,
when applicable.
Efficacy data requirements for disinfectants and sanitizers intended
for use as additives in laundry operations are as follows:
(1) Disinfection.
(i) Test standard. A proposed simulated use procedure employed
by Petrocci and Clarke (Petrocci, A. M. and Clarke, P. 1969. Proposed
Test Method for Antimicrobial Laundry Additives. J.A.O.A.C. 52: 836-42)
is acceptable. Alternately, a simulated-use study utilizing washing machines
may be employed. The following basic elements must be incorporated in
either study:
(A) The test bacteria are Staphylococcus aureus(ATCC
6538) and Klebsiella pneumoniae(ATCC
4352). If the product is intended for use on hospital linens, it must
also be tested against Pseudomonas aeruginosa(ATCC 15442).
(B) The basic bacteriological procedures must
be the same as those specified in the Petrocci and Clarke protocol.
(C) Tests must be conducted with 3 product samples,
representing 3 different batches, one of which is at least 60 days old.
Each sample must be tested with 9 fabric swatches against each of the
specified test bacteria.
(D) The method employed must be designed to include
testing both the fabric and the laundry water (5ml from the automatic
washer, or 0.5 ml from the simulated washing device in individual widemouth
jars containing subculture media and neutralizers. The laundry water-to-media
volume ratio must not exceed 1:40.
(E) Growth or no-growth must be recorded and
reported after a 48-hour incubation period.
(ii) Performancestandard. There must be no growth in the fabric
subcultures and no growth in the subcultures from the laundry water with
all test bacteria.
(2) Sanitization.
(i) TestStandard. The same type of studies referred to under "Disinfection"
above must be employed for evaluating the efficacy of laundry additives
intended to sanitize laundry, with the following exceptions:
(A) Tests must be conducted with 3 samples representing
3 product batches, one of which is at least 60 days old. Each sample must
be tested with 3 cloth swatches against each test microorganism required.
(B) Quantitative bacteriological assays must
be conducted and the results reported.
(ii) Performance standard. At least 99.9% reduction in bacteria
over the control count for both laundry water and fabric must be demonstrated
against each test microorganism.
The data requirements outlined herein do not apply to sodium-calcium
hypochlorites, sodium-potassium dichloro-s-triazinetriones or trlchloro-s-triazinetrione.
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