Permanent Hygiene on Ceramics with MicNo® HYG

We are surrounded by ceramics in all areas of our daily life; we are in contact with ceramic products in the house we live in, the workplace we work in, the social places we spend time with our friends, the schools we receive education and the hospitals we visit for healthcare. From past to present, ceramic manufacturers act with a human, technology, and design-oriented approach in the production of tiles and sanitary ware. Until the Covid 19 epidemic, which started to spread around the world as of 2020, the pandemic situation has drawn attention to the importance of hygiene for our health in our lives. For this reason, it has become a kind of necessity to add the hygiene focus in ceramic products.

Although chemicals such as cleaning materials and disinfectants are used to achieve hygiene on ceramic surfaces, these processes must be repeated frequently for their permanence [1]. This situation negatively affects sustainability in terms of time, workforce, water, and environment.

Polymeric coatings, which are applied to the surface without high temperature firing treatments in the ceramic industry, lose their effect by being worn from the surface over time, depending on usage. With its special particle structure, MicNo® HYG provides permanent hygienic surfaces by being included in the ceramic production process before firing. With the patented particle structure of MicNo® HYG, a high antibacterial effect can be obtained even at low usage rates in ceramic glazes. In addition, MicNo® HYG products can still be applied over the surface after firing processes, if desired.

So how can we understand that ceramic surfaces with MicNo® HYG are hygienic? It is possible to understand this with standard microbiological tests performed by microbiologists. However, the concepts and mechanisms that provide protection against microorganisms in the sector can be confused with each other and the antibacterial-antimicrobial properties can create a misunderstanding. To clarify this issue, while the antibacterial property is a property that provides activity against E. coli and S. aureus bacteria and prevents and terminates the proliferation of these bacteria on the relevant surfaces, the antimicrobial property is an ability that is also effective against organisms such as yeast and mold [2]. In other words, antimicrobial property is used to describe the actives that shows efficacy towards a larger group of microorganisms (broader spectrum).

Tested and approved by microbiology experts, MicNo® HYG provides broad spectrum 24/7 protection against microorganisms in bright and dark environments, without the need for any external factors, in the ceramic tile and vitrified products that way, MicNo® HYG contributes to the environment by reducing the effort, water, energy and chemical cleaning agent usage in the cleaning and disinfection processes of tile and sanitary ware products. At the same time, broad-spectrum 24/7 protection will have a critical impact in areas with high human circulation such as hospitals, schools, hotels and shopping malls.

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of the World Health Organization, mentioned in a statement at the International Pandemic Preparedness Day in 2020, that there will be more pandemics in the future and we must now accept that epidemics are a fact of life [3]. For this reason, MicNo® HYG will continue to take a greater place in our lives by being present in other materials besides ceramics, with all the benefits it provides. 

                                                                                                                                                                                         Sezgi IŞIK 

                                                                                                                                                                                 Hygiene Team Leader

Sources

[1] Reinosa J.J., Enríquez E., Fuertes V., Liu S., Menéndez J., Fernández J.F., 2022, “The Challenge of Antimicrobial Glazed Ceramic Surfaces”, Castellón de la Plana, Castellón, Spain .

[2] Atlı, B., Kesim, M.T., Demirel, G., Bektaş, N., Suvacı, E., 2021, Günümüzde Artan Hijyen Kaygisi ve Antimikrobiyal Seramik Ürünlerin Geliştirilmesi, sayı 59, Türkiye Seramik Federasyonu Dergisi, Türkiye.

[3] Ghebreyesus T. A., “DSÖ’den uyarı: Covid-19 son pandemi olmayacak”, Aralık 2020, https://www.ntv.com.tr/dunya/dsoden-uyari-covid-19-son-pandemi olmayacak,zzSIZfMWlkG_9Ay1jncWJw