Valencian Institute of Microbiology
(I V A M I)

EN 17272: 2020 and BPR: 2022. Methods of airborne room disinfection by automated process - Determination of bactericidal, mycobactericidal, sporicidal, fungicidal, yeasticidal, virucidal and phagocidal activities.

Test accredited by ENAC (Spanish National Accreditation Entity), for standard mandatory and additionals microorganisms or viruses, including under specific conditions of BPR.

The NF-EN 17272: 2020 standard describes a test method to evaluate the biocidal activity (bactericidal, mycobactericidal, sporicidal, fungicidal, levuricidal, virucidal and phagocidal) of air surface disinfection processes. This test is aimed at evaluating the processes that involve air dispersal of a chemical disinfectant in the form of gas, steam and/or aerosol. It is used to evaluate the effectiveness of the process, the product and the devices necessary to carry out the disinfection tests by air. For chemical processes, the product-device combination cannot be separated. The test evaluates the reduction of the test microorganisms located in non-porous supports according to the number of organisms that survive a given air disinfection process. The test method consists of two parts: an efficacy test, designed to ensure that the minimum microorganism reduction requirements are met for each claimed activity; and a distribution test, designed to evaluate the distribution efficiency of the process throughout the test chamber. The standard allows two activity claims depending on the test chamber volumen, depending on the intended use of the process, for the small rooms (less than 4 m³) and large (in test rooms between 30 to 150 m³). The test room in IVAMI has a volumen of 74 m³.

For the efficacy test, each of the biocidal activities can be tested individually, but in order to comply with NF EN 17272 standard, it must show at least bactericidal and yeasticidal activity. The contact time for disinfection by air, that is, the period from the first release of the disinfectant product to the recovery of the supports or the start of aeration (if an aeration period is considered necessary), must be established according to the manufacturer´s recommendations and must be equal to or less than 15 hours. However, the standard admits as additional mandatory conditions tests with a contact time ≤ 48 hours, if indicated by the manufacturer's instructions and depending on the drying sensitivity of the strains used. Due to the working time frame of our Center, the assays can be selected with times of assay ≤ 8 horas or ≥ 15 horas.  The mandatory temperature at the start of the test is 20ºC ± 2ºC. However, other temperatures may be used as additional requirements if the use of the product, according to the manufacturer´s recommendations, excludes this temperature. The relative humidity at the start of the test should be 50-75%, and it can only be substituted by another humidity range when the use of the product, according to the manufacturer´s instructions, excludes these humidity conditions.

The soiling conditions to be used in the test depend on the sector of use for which the test product is intended. In the event of testing products aimed at the medical sector, the standard establishes clean conditions as mandatory conditions (0.3 g/L BSA and 0.3 g/L BSA + 1/20 milk for microorganisms sensitive to drying), while which includes dirty conditions as additional conditions (in the presence of 3 g/L of BSA plus 3 mg/L of erythrocytes). In the case of testing products for the veterinary sector, the EN 17272 standard establishes low-dirty conditions as mandatory (using 3 g/L of BSA or 3 g/L of BSA + 1/20 of milk for microorganisms sensitive to desiccation) and as additional conditionals those with a high level of dirty (in the presence of 10 g/L of BSA plus 10 g/L of yeast extract or 10 g/L of BSA plus 10 g/L of yeast extract + 1/20 of milk for microorganisms sensitive to desiccation). In case of testing products for the agri-food, industrial, domestic and community sectors, the standard establishes as mandatory conditions the use of clean conditions (0.3 g/L BSA or 0.3 g/L BSA + 1/20 milk for microorganisms sensitive to desiccation), and as additional conditions dirty conditions (in the presence of 3 g/L of BSA or 3 g/L of BSA + 1/20 of milk for sensitive microorganisms).

Note*: The standard admits several adaptations of the test (addition of milk to the interfering substance, increase of the initial inoculum or both) when, under the test conditions indicated by the client, the necessary titer for the test cannot be achieved in controls with microorganisms sensitive to desiccation. If we must repeat the test to adapt the test conditions with some microorganism sensitive to desiccation, such as P. aeruginosa, E. coli or P. hauseri, so that it meets the requirements of the standard, the cost of the test will include a supplement (see cost section).

The efficacy test will be carried out with the following microorganisms, depending on the activity to be claimed and the sector to which the disinfection process is intended.

To consider the bactericidal product, a log reduction of not less than 5 in the number of viable cells must be demonstrated. For fungicidal, yeasticidal, virucidal, phagocidal, tuberculicidal, and mycobactericidal activities, a reduction of at least 4 logarithms in the number of viable must be demonstrated. To demonstrate efficacy against spores, a logarithmic reduction of at least 4 must be demonstrated in the medical area, while the reduction must be at least 3 logarithms for the veterinary, agri-food, domestic industrial and community sectors.

The distribution test must be carried out under the same conditions as the efficacy test and is always carried out with Staphylococcs aureus, regardless of the activity to be declared. For this, 8 supports are distributed in the test chamber in certain positions and orientations. To consider the test satisfactory, a reduction of at least 5 log must be demonstrated on all supports.

Activity of automatic air surface disinfection processes under specific conditions of the BPR guide (NF-EN 17272: 2020- Antiseptic and chemical disinfectants. Methods of disinfection of rooms by air using automated processes. Determination of bactericidal, mycobactericidal, and sporicidal activities, fungicides, yeasticidal, virucidal and phagocides and BPR guide - Guidance on the Biocidal Products Regulation, ECHA, April 2018. Version 3).

The disinfection test by air under the specific conditions of the BPR Guide (Guidance on the Biocidal Products Regulation) involves carrying out the efficacy test with microorganisms other than those indicated by the EN 17272 standard for some areas of application or type of product (PT). In addition, it includes some optional and specific use test microorganisms indicated in the table below. The logarithmic reductions in the number of viable cells must be the same as those indicated for the EN 17272 standard.

Customer request for the assay

The customer must indicate if he wishes to carry out the test according to EN 17272 or following the BPR Guide. Depending on the choice made, the report will indicate that the test is performed following the EN 17272 standard, or following the EN 17272 standard under the specific conditions of the BPR Guide. If the test is carried out according to the EN 17272 standard only, the report will not refer to the PTs, but to the sectors of use (medical sector, veterinary sector, and the agri-food, industrial, domestic and community sectors).

In case of carrying out the test, you must send the appropriate emission devices for the volume of the test room used in the laboratory (74 m³; seventy-four cubic meters). It should be noted that this test involves several days of testing and therefore sufficient product must be shipped to perform the test in the 74 m3 chamber on different days. The number of test days depends on the number of test microorganisms. For example, for bactericidal activity with the mandatory microorganisms according to EN 17272, it is necessary to have enough product to carry out the disinfection process 7 times, on 7 different days. To analyse virucidal activity, fungicidal or mycobactericidal activity, you must send sufficient product to carry out the test on 5 different days, whereas for bacteriophage activity, it is enough with the product required for 4 days of test. This implies that, if the test emission device is a single-use device, the number of devices necessary to carry out the test in the 74 m³ test room must be multiplied by the days of testing. For reusable emission devices, sufficient disinfectant must be shipped to perform the test on the indicated number of days. For tests with other microorganisms or various conditions, you can consult us on the quantity of product to be sent indicating all the conditions of testing (microorganisms, interfering substance, time, test temperature, and area of ​​application).