EN 17272

Validation of airborne surface disinfection according to EN 17272 "Chemical disinfectants and antiseptics - Methods of airborne room disinfection by automated process – Determination of bactericidal, mycobactericidal, sporicidal, fungicidal, yeasticidal, virucidal and phagocidal activities".

Airborne surface disinfection is used in many areas. Whether this is the final disinfection of patient rooms in the medical sector, the disinfection of animal stables in the veterinary sector or the use to improve the shelf life of food - it is often necessary to disinfect areas that are difficult to access. Aerogenic processes can contribute to this.

The use of airborne surface disinfection methods requires efficacy validation according to EN 17272, which is applicable for methods in small rooms (e.g. vehicle cabins) up to 4 m³ as well as in rooms between 30 - 150 m³. At HygCen Germany Germany, we have established rooms with 4 m³ and 75 m³ (corresponding to a patient's double room) for such tests.

All efficacy claims can be covered at HygCen Germany, so you have all options from one source.
We test your product on:

• bactericidal
• levurocidal
• fungicidal
• mycobactericidal
• sporicidal
• phagocidal
• virucidal activity

In addition, special questions such as efficacy against C. difficile, MRSA, limited virucidal efficacy or efficacy against coronaviruses can also be tested.

According to EN 17272 and also already according to the previously applicable standard (NF T 72-281), HygCen Germany has already been able to gain experience in the validation of such efficacies for many procedures.

Feel free to contact us about your specific procedure.

Validation of aerosol efficacy of indoor air decontamination procedures according to VDI 4300-14 "Measurement of indoor air pollution - Requirements for mobile air purifiers to reduce aerosol-borne transmission of infectious diseases".

Irrespective of airborne surface disinfection, the efficacy against organisms in indoor air places completely different demands on a process. HygCen Germany has been testing aerosol efficacy in the biological system ever since this became the talk of the town in the mid-2020s. For a long time, there were no defined criteria for the efficacy assessment. Since September 2021, there has been a VDI standard according to which the test criteria can now be defined. The concept that HygCen Germany has already been using for almost two years is reflected there almost 1:1. 

Accordingly, we have already gained experience with this test set-up for many processes (e.g. UV, ozone, chlorine compounds, electrostatics, disinfection mist) and can implement these tests for a wide range of devices and effective processes. 

For the disinfection of air, we use a setup with aerosolized organisms. Bacteriophages phiX174 (as a virus substitute) are used as test organisms. These can be isolated from the room air for up to 2 hours. Efficacy against phages would also be transferable to enveloped viruses (including corona viruses). It can be assumed that a comparable effectiveness is given. 

First, a reference test is carried out without the operation of the process/device to be tested. In a second test, the same number of bacteriophages is aerosolized under the same conditions and then the decontamination procedure is operated over the measurement time. Accordingly, reduction factors can be calculated for different exposure times; according to the VDI guideline, the decisive factor is the decrease in bacterial concentration after 30 minutes compared to the reference experiment.

Please feel free to contact us about this.