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Plos One 2022: ​UB team validates a new method for assessing the antimicrobial efficacy of domestic cleaning products

Environmental awareness in society is changing household laundry habits, where the use of less bleach and lower temperatures during washing machine cycles is encouraged. In this context, disinfectants added to detergents have become an essential factor to compensate for these new habits and to prevent the transmission of bacteria, fungi and viruses in the house, as well as to control the level of odour-causing micro-organisms on clothes.These products must be evaluated according to standardised methods, but the current European regulations only apply to clinical settings and are restricted to the main wash cycle. Experts from the Biost3 Research Group, led by Antoni Monleón, lecturer in the Department of Genetics, Microbiology and Statistics of the UB, have statistically validated a new method for assessing the antimicrobial efficacy of detergents and textile additives in domestic environments. The results reveal the validity of the new protocol, which has been presented to the European Committee for Standardisation (CEN) requesting it to become the European standard."It is very difficult to make sure that a product works and that is a good disinfectant. We work with micro-organisms and the results of the efficacy evaluation can be very variable depending on the method, the washing machine, the temperature and so on. That is why it is very important to publish a standardised protocol at the European level so that manufacturers of household textile disinfectants can demonstrate the efficacy of their products with a methodology that is much closer to the real situation at home", says Antoni Monleón, a member of the Research Group on Biostatistics and Bioinformatics (GRBIO) integrated in the Bioinformatics Barcelona Association (BIB).The study, published in the journal PLOS ONE , has been carried out in collaboration with CEN technical committee member Michelle Cavalleri and an international consortium of industrial and testing laboratories comprising AC Marca, Arxada, Eurofins Biolab SRL, Henkel AG & Co KGaA, Hohenstein Laboratories GmbH & Co. KG, Hochschule Niederrhein, FB textile-u Bekleidungs-technick, and Thor Especialidades S. A. AC Marca researchers Ana Costan and Nuria Piedra have coordinated the development of the standard, the experimental phase and the data collection.International ring trial to simulate domestic washing conditions

Chemical disinfectants and antiseptics - Chemical textile disinfection for the domestic area - Test method and requirements​ - European Standart 2022

Developing an European Standard 

DIN EN 17658:2022-11: 
Chemical disinfectants and antiseptics - Chemical textile disinfection for the domestic area - Test method and requirements (phase 2, step 2); 
German version EN 17658:2022Antiseptiques et désinfectants chimiques - Désinfection chimique du textile pour le domaine domestique - Méthode d'essai et prescriptions (phase 2, étape 2); Version allemande EN 17658:2022Chemische Desinfektionsmittel und Antiseptika - Chemische Textildesinfektion für den häuslichen Bereich - Prüfverfahren und Anforderungen (Phase 2, Stufe 2); Deutsche Fassung EN 17658:2022 

CEN
EN 17658:2022
: 
Chemical disinfectants and antiseptics - Chemical textile disinfection for the domestic area - Test method and requirements (phase 2, step 2); 
This document specifies a test method and the minimum performance requirements for the microbicidal efficacy of a chemical product intended for use in a wash process in a domestic environment, in a domestic wash equipment at low temperatures (≤40 °C). This procedure does not apply to certain types of laundry disinfection technologies which require specific devices (i.e. active substances generated in situ using specific devices). This method is not limited to certain types of textiles, types of products or steps in the washing cycle.
According to a phase 2, step 2 test definition, this document establishes the efficacy in laboratory test simulating practical use conditions of a chemical product.
This document cannot be applied when the disinfection is medical indicated (medical area) or in hygiene-sensitive areas where professional reprocessing of laundry is required (i.e. food, healthcare, medical and cleanroom sectors, PPE, and workwear). In those cases, EN 16616 and EN 14065 will apply.
NOTE   This method corresponds to a phase 2, step 2 test (see EN 14885).
EN 14885 specifies in detail the relationship of the various tests to one another and to “use recommendations”. 

03

A new study reveals the level of physical activity and sport per European country

14/02/2017 Recerca Sweden, Finland and Denmark are the European countries that do more sport on a regular basis, according to a study published in the Open Access Library Journal, by the experts Antonio Monleón-Getino, Marta Cubedo, Martín Ríos, from the Faculty of Biology of the University of Barcelona, and Daniel Ríos, professor at the Sales Upper Secondary School in Viladecans (Barcelona). According to the conclusions, people in Portugal, Italy, Spain and especially Greece, are listed below the European average regarding the indicators on population and sport.   Sedentarism and lack of physical activity is having more and more incidences in the public health of western countries. According to the World Health Organization (WHO) , which has been reminding about the value of physical activity to promote health and prevent some pathologies, the lack of physical activity is the fourth risk factor in global mortality, and the main cause of more than 21% breast and colon cancers, the 27% of diabetes cases and around the 30% of the coronary heart diseases.

The new study published in Open Access Library covers general aspects of the physical activity and does not focus on any sport in particular. It is based on the multivariate analysis of data from around 27.000 people from 27 European countries according to the information published by the Eurobarometer of the European Commission on the practice of sport stated by people over 15. For each analysed country, the experts analyse the practice of physical exercise and sport of their inhabitants, who are listed in four categories: the ones who never play sport, barely play, occasionally play, and regularly play sport.

04

Dispositivo electrónico portátil controlado por una app para la medida in situ de la elasticidad de masas de harina

Una app para medir la elasticidad de las masas de harina  30-07-2020 La FBG ha obtenido una ayuda por valor de 20.000 euros para el proyecto “Dispositivo electrónico portátil controlado por una app para la medida in situ de la elasticidad de masas de harina”, de la Dra. Àngels Sahuquillo Estrugo, del Departamento de Ingeniería Química y Química Analítica de la Facultad de Química de la Universidad de Barcelona, ​y el Dr. Antonio Monleon Getino, del Departamento de Genética, Microbiología y Estadística de la Facultad de Biología de la Universidad de Barcelona. La calidad de las masas de harina viene determinada por sus propiedades reológicas como material viscoelástico. Estas propiedades, y en particular, el valor de la elasticidad, determinan las condiciones de procesamiento de la masa y su uso final. Para evaluar estas propiedades existen métodos reológicos experimentales que son ampliamente utilizados por las industrias, ya que ofrecen resultados de gran precisión y exactitud. Sin embargo, estos métodos requieren aparatos costosos y delicados y personal técnico especializado para su utilización. En este proyecto el grupo de investigación persigue la obtención de un primer prototipo de un dispositivo electrónico (RELAPP) portátil, de bajo coste y controlado por una aplicación informática que permita medir in situ la elasticidad de materiales viscoelásticos como las masas de harina. Las pruebas realizadas han permitido desarrollar algoritmos de tipo Machine Learning que aproximan de manera adecuada los principales parámetros reológicos de los diferentes tipos de harinas normalizadas. Estos resultados preliminares muestran que RELAPP podría utilizarse como herramienta de control de calidad de las harinas, tanto en la recepción industrial de las harineras como en las cooperativas y las empresas que utilizan harinas. El proyecto, con número de expediente 2019-LLAV-00072, ha sido otorgado por la AGAUR en la modalidad “Ayudas Semilla para proyectos innovadores con potencial de incorporación al sector productivo”, y está financiado por el Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional de la Unión Europea en el marco del programa operativo FEDER de Catalunya 2014-2020.