• ATP hygiene monitoring
• Interpretation of results of ATP hygiene monitoring
• Luminometric detection of residual cleaning agents and disinfectants

ATP (Adenosine Triphosphate) is present in all living cells and is therefore an indicator of biological contamination of e.g. human or bacterial origin. Addition of the sample to an ATP reagent containing luciferace results in light emission. The light is measured in a luminometer and is proportional to the ATP level. The use of bioluminescent ATP detection for hygiene monitoring offers:

• Speed,
• Convenience and
• The measurement of total hygiene.

Aboatox Oy represents the ATP hygiene monitoring systems of Kikkoman Corporation (Japan) and BioThema Ab (Sweden). BioThema offers a wide range of conventional high quality ATP hygiene reagents and Kikkoman offers a simple self-contained hygiene monitoring reagent (LuciPac) completed with portable (8 x 20 x 5 cm, 360 g) luminometer (Lumitester PD-10).

Using LuciPac-W & Lumitester PD-10 in ATP swab test: luclum.pdf (310 kt)

Generally, clean surfaces show low levels of total ATP. Therefore, light output greater than 2 to 3 times background of the clean surface indicates that the area tested is contaminated with biological material. However, the method is very sensitive and in practise a threshold of 10 times background can be accepted. In all cases, users should determine the background ATP levels of all surfaces to be controlled. This is conveniently done by testing surfaces immediately after they have been cleaned using the most rigorous cleaning techniques.

The bioluminescent method gives a measurement of total ATP on a surface which is a very sensitive method for hygiene monitoring. This should be kept in mind when comparing with the results of conventional methods. A surface may well be sterile, but if it is contaminated by any biological materials (as indicated by the presence of ATP) it will provide for rapid growth of microorganisms. This source of contamination is detected by the ATP test but is missed by traditional microbiological methods.

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Luminometric detection of residual cleaning agents and disinfectants

Chemical risks in food processing include cleaning agent and disinfectant residues remaining after insufficient rinsing of the process line. These detergents can be detected easily and at very low concentrations by using BioTox™ Toxicity Screening System. The method is non-specific and can be applied to both rinse waters and process surfaces. The detection time is only 5 minutes. The variation of detection limits for most commonly used agents is ranging from a 1/17 to 1/9615 dilution of the ready-to-use concentrations. Conclusions about the level of chemical contamination can be done if the agent and its response are known. The principle of the measurement is that the bacteria and the sample are mixed together and after an incubation period the light output is measured.

Application note: appn201.pdf (240 kt)

Lappalainen, J., Loikkanen, S., Havana, M., Karp, M., Sjöberg, A.-M. and Wirtanen, G. (2000). Microbial Testing Methods for Detection of Residual Cleaning Agents and Disinfectants-Prevention of ATP Bioluminescence Measurement Errors in the Food Industry. J. Food Prot., Vol. 63, No. 2, pp. 210-215.

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