Adhesive Mats for Contamination Control
By Eric Bookland, Vice President of Product Development & Operations, PURUS International
Never in recent history has there been a greater widespread need for contamination control. The unprecedented global pandemic requires more thought, planning, and precautions to ensure everyone’s safety and well-being. With the many hurdles being addressed, we should also consider the impact our solutions have on the environment.
Until recently, contamination control matting has been manufactured for more than 30 years using the same materials and processes. We have now introduced advancements in technology with one thought in mind: Adhesive mats for contamination and infection control can be effective and environmentally friendly at the same time. The result is EnviroTack adhesive contamination control mats, which help meet these goals for workplaces where contamination control is paramount.
The Anti-Microbial Benefits
A series of experiments was conducted to determine the efficacy of EnviroTack mats in preventing bacteria from entering controlled environments. This first-of-its-kind research was conducted in the field and the results showed robust success rates. The adhesive contamination control mats prevented a significant amount of bacteria from entering controlled environments.
Various microbes, including Staphylococcus aureus, were tested through various methods. After establishing the test methodology and setting various parameters, results began to reveal meaningful trends. For S. aureus bacteria, the adhesive contamination control mats achieved a removal rate of 85% with a prevention rate of 99.7%. Similarly, for Aspergillus niger, the removal and prevention rates were 97% and 99.9% respectively.
The test product:
- Removed 85% of S. aureus and 97% of A. niger
- Prevented 99.7% of S. aureus and 99.9% of A. niger from entering a protected zone
- Was 82% and 95.7% more effective than the negative control in preventing S. aureus and A. niger from entering a protected zone, respectively
Contact your Fisher Scientific safety specialist to request more details about the methodology of these tests.
Environmental Impact
What is the environmental impact of your business? Environmental concerns may seem difficult to address in industrial production, but they don’t have to be. ISO 14001 has an excellent framework for developing and executing an effective environmental management system (EMS) and specifies requirements to enable organizations to achieve the intended outcomes set for environmental management systems.
"EMS can bring amazing benefits to the organization. It can help reduce waste and drive down costs."
Addressing environmental impact is a win-win situation for any business. In addition to providing a great service to the environment, a quality EMS can:
- Help reduce waste
- Drive down costs
- Increase new business opportunities
- Increase stakeholder and customer trust
- Manage environmental obligations with consistency
In 2015, ISO 14001 published a revision that addressed some aspects that are vital to an EMS. One key addition was proactive initiatives to protect the environment from harm and degradation, like sustainable resource use and climate change mitigation. Another update encourages companies to engage in life cycle thinking when considering environmental aspects of activities, products, and services.
"EnviroTack will reduce the amount of CO2 gas emitted by 40 metric tons per year. It would take almost 50 acres of forests a year to sequester that much CO2."
One area to consider might be disposable products. Depending on the industry, these can consume a large part of a company’s budget. And, although many of these items are used and discarded in the course of day-to-day operations, it’s easy to overlook their environmental impact. Choosing an alternative product that is environmentally preferred can make a significant impact on the environment with minimal effort.
PURUS recognizes that building sustainable business practices to enhance the value of the company is in the best interest of our company, our associates, our suppliers, our customers, and our community. We also know that you have other initiatives and PURUS is committed to helping you achieve your sustainability goals by providing you with environmentally preferred products.
EnviroTack Contamination Control Mats
EnviroTack, available exclusively from Purus International, Inc., is the first ever contamination control product made with renewable plant-based materials to provide an environmentally friendly alternative.
To better understand this new technology, one must understand the makeup of tacky mats. Each mat consists of 30 or 60 sheets of 1.5 mil low-density film with a 0.3 mil acrylic-based, pressure-sensitive adhesive coating.
Sustainability
Traditionally, tacky mat sheets have been made from 100% low-density polyethylene (LDPE) film, a material that comes from non-renewable resources. EnviroTack uses a special resin called thermoplastic starch (TPS), which is made from renewable and sustainable raw materials. Each EnviroTack sheet contains 20% TPS blended with LDPE.
Our hybrid resin only uses materials that are GMO-free. Each starch has also met various environmental criteria regarding its sourcing.
Carbon Footprint
A major benefit of using renewable resources is the reduction of the product’s overall carbon footprint. Using a hybrid resin in these mats has reduced our greenhouse gas emissions by 11%, as verified by the life cycle analysis (LCA) performed by the Centre for Design at RMIT University in Melbourne, Australia. An LCA determines the total amount of greenhouse gases produced to directly support human activities and is usually expressed in equivalent tons of carbon dioxide (CO2). EnviroTack is projected to reduce annual CO2 gas emissions by 40 metric tons, an amount that would otherwise take nearly 50 acres of forests to sequester.*
In addition to the carbon sequestered by the material itself, PURUS goes even further to protect the environment. Carbon emitted from incoming freight is offset in the form of carbon credits. By contributing to various forestry, energy efficiency, and renewable energy projects, PURUS will offset an additional 52 tons of CO2 per year, an amount that would require an additional 60 acres of forests.
Performance
Because the TPS and LDPE behave like the LDPE alone, EnviroTack offers the same performance as its predecessor. The quality of tacky mats lies in the strength of the individual sheets. Each sheet needs to be sturdy enough to endure the abuse of being trod on and flexible enough to not tear under the force required to remove it from the pad. EnviroTack has the tensile strength and elongation properties to meet both requirements.
Environmental initiatives in production can be difficult to manage. EnviroTack from PURUS can be one solution for teams that want to reduce their overall environmental impact without sacrificing the effectiveness and anti-microbial attributes necessary for effective contamination control.
*Emission calculations based on EPA calculator tool: https://www.epa.gov/energy/greenhouse-gas-equivalencies-calculator
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