ARTIFICIAL AGEING METHOD

Accelerated VOC Release from Plastic Samples

Artificial ageing at BioLabTests uses dry heat to accelerate the release of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) from plastic samples. VOCs in products include things like benzene, formaldehyde and dichloromethane. These VOCs can show antibacterial effect in the short term, which can impact your antibacterial testing results when tested to common methods such as ISO 22196 and ISO 20743. These VOCs are very common in materials such as PVC, paint and rubber.

The Artifical Ageing Method Procedure & Assessment

When testing your antibacterial sample, VOCs in your product may naturally kill of bacteria. This means that you cannot conclude if it is your antibacterial agent that is working, or if it is simply a short-lived antibacterial effect coming from the VOCs. Therefore, BioLabTests recommends always sending in the corresponding untreated version of your sample when having antibacterial analysis performed. If your untreated sample shows antibacterial efficacy, artificial ageing is a suitable method to correctly validate your product.

1. Sample Cleaning

Both treated and untreated samples are cleaned of any contaminants.

2. Sample Ageing

Samples are stored in dry heat (65°C standard) for a set time, which will vary depending on your product material.

3. Testing and Analysis

After ageing, your samples are analysed using the respective antibacterial testing method.

4. Results

With VOCs sufficiently removed, your untreated sample should display no antibacterial efficacy, meaning you can assess the raw performance of your antibacterial product. 

Things to note 

Credibility of Result

Adding artificial ageing to your testing schedule allows a more realistic evaluation of your antibacterial products. VOCs will naturally leave your product over its lifespan and artificial ageing is a great way to assess how this could impact the performance of your antibacterial product over the duration of its use.

When using artificial ageing, we can roughly determine the real-world ageing time equivalent. For example, samples aged at 65°C for 16.1 days would roughly simulate a real-world time of one year. This data can be useful for determining the expected performance of your product after a set amount of time.

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Check out our comprehensive range of TEsting methods

ASTM E2149-13A

ASTM E2149-13A

  • Determining the antimicrobial efficacy of antimicrobial agents under dynamic contact conditions

  • Recommended for testing materials such as fabric, paper, powder and granular material

  • Evaluates the activity of an antimicrobial additive within non-leaching materials

ASTM G21-15

ASTM G21-15

  • Determining the effect of fungi on the properties of synthetic polymeric materials in the form of moulded and fabricated articles, tubes, rods, sheets, and film materials

  • Aspergillus brasiliensis is used as the predominant microbe in testing but it is possible to modify the method to suit a client’s specific needs