If you're wondering how to tell if products claiming to kill 99% of bacteria, viruses, and other germs in disinfection products are truly effective, by reading this article and our article titled "What is an Accredited Report?", you can easily discover how effective the product you're interested in is.
In our article titled "What is an Accredited Report?", we explained that only an internationally accepted accredited report for a specific disinfection product can prove whether it has the claimed effect.
So, does having an accredited report make the product safe? The answer is both yes and no.
- Yes, it makes it safe, because the product has been tested according to international standards and has demonstrated its true effectiveness with an accredited report.
- No, it does not make it safe, because the product might not accurately and clearly reflect the results of the accredited report in its promotional materials, and consumers might be misled if they don't know how to examine an accredited report.
Follow the 3 steps below to decide whether the disinfection product you are interested in is reliable, effective, and meets your needs.
1- To examine an accredited report, you must first confirm that the accredited report was indeed prepared by an accredited laboratory with a signature.
When you get hold of an accredited report for the product you're interested in, your first step should be to verify that the accredited report is not fake. If there's a QR code in the report, you can scan it to verify the document and access its original version. If there's no QR code in the report, you can contact the laboratory that prepared the report to verify the document and confirm the results within it.
2- You need to confirm whether the laboratory that prepared the accredited report is accredited for the scope of analysis included in the report.
A laboratory being accredited does not mean that it can perform all analyses in an accredited manner. Accredited laboratories are audited periodically by international accredited supervisory bodies (e.g., TÜRKAK) according to international standards for specific analyses, and they only hold accreditation for the analyses they successfully pass in these audits.
You can confirm whether the laboratory that prepared the report has accreditation for the analysis stated in the report by checking the official website of the relevant international accreditation body.
For more detailed information, we recommend you take a look at our series titled "Accredited Report Readings," which includes our examinations specifically for disinfection products.
3- For accredited reports that pass the verifications in the first two stages, the final point you need to pay attention to is checking under what conditions the analysis was performed and how it concluded.
Unfortunately, if disinfection products are not used correctly, their effectiveness is significantly reduced. Therefore, to ensure a successful and effective disinfection process, attention must be paid to the product's usage instructions and the conditions under which the analysis was performed in their accredited reports.
You should carefully read the usage instructions and the accredited analysis report and pay attention to which environments the disinfection product is suitable for, how long it should be left in the environment you are disinfecting, what percentage of disinfection the product provides against microorganisms under these conditions, and what needs to be done after the disinfection process. For example, if you have bleach at home that claims to eliminate microorganisms, upon carefully reading the bleach packaging, you will find a usage instruction stating that you need to leave the bleach on the surface you are disinfecting for a minimum of 5 minutes, that you should not inhale the bleach, and that after the 5-minute waiting period, you need to rinse the surface disinfected with bleach with plenty of water.
We recommend that you read our series titled "Accredited Report Readings," which includes our explanations on how to read accredited reports of surface, air, and water disinfection products you are interested in, based on our example accredited reports.
To examine Sterilisa's internationally accepted accredited test and analysis reports for disinfection devices, visit www.sterilisa.com.tr now.
