At no time in our lifetime have we been more focused on stopping the spread of germs.
One of the ways we can achieve that is through the use of antimicrobials.
The science behind antimicrobials has been around for ages.
More recently, that technology has been developed into an additive that uses silver as an active ingredient to inhibit the growth of bacteria by stopping cell replication. This additive can be used in different materials to give them an antimicrobial property.
Based in Zaragoza, Spain, Laboratorios Argenol has been developing, producing, and selling industrial antimicrobial additives since 1939.
In January, their Bactiblock 920 B4 was approved as an antimicrobial additive by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
As a North American distributor of the Bactiblock additive, Indianapolis-based Accessa has been using it and selling it for years.
“This isn’t some brand new product that’s jumped in to make a quick buck during the pandemic,” said Vince Todd, Vice President and Principal at Accessa. “A lot of products have come to market over the last nine to 12 months and this further proves that this is a legitimate product that’s been around a long time and now it has the backing of the U.S. EPA as well as other like organizations in Europe and throughout other parts of the world.”
What this means for Accessa’s customers is added confidence that products with the Bactiblock additive will stay germ-free for longer.
“A spray cleaner or a spray sanitizer has a pretty short lifespan on the surface. This is actually in the product, so the lifespan of the antimicrobial properties exist for the length of time of the product itself,” said Todd. “It has multiple kill claims, which is key because some antimicrobials out there will just inhibit mold or fungus and help with odor. This actually kills bacteria and they’ve tested it going back to this time last year and tested it against a coronavirus and it was able to have that viral kill claim on that as well.”
Potential uses for the product are endless.
“We could add this additive to the coatings we currently sell to be used on children’s furniture, hospital furniture, school lockers – anything that gets painted that would benefit from having an antimicrobial property in the paint on the surface.”
They also sell the additive itself to other manufacturers.
“Those manufacturers are producing powder coatings, plastic parts – sometimes they ask for something called master batch where the additive itself is added to a certain type of plastic, which they mix with other non-treated material to produce the part. It’s a matter of determining what the proper ratios are to get the desired effect.”
The competitive advantage created could be a game-changer when it comes to retail and wholesale consumers.
“I think one of the end results of the pandemic is that there will be certain items that people will look for with antimicrobial properties and it makes the buying decision such that if one item has those properties and another item doesn’t – while the one that does may cost a little more, that may sway them to purchase that product.”
A new endorsement for a not-so-new product that could lead to new uses for decades to come.
For more information on Accessa and its family of businesses, visit accessa.com.