applications

Transport

The transport sector is quite a large one consisting of different industries managed by governments, organizations or individuals. In most countries a large part of the inhabitants rely on the public transport (train, bus & metro) to commute to and from work. Besides those traveling for work, many others also make use of the public transport on a daily basis to go from, or to their desired destination.

This means that in not only in the rush hours a multitude of travellers will commute in these forms of public transport. The density of people means less control from a hygienic perspective, even when a 24/7 cleaning service is implaced, the traveller is confronted with less appropriate hygienic standards, as frequently seen in public toilets, waiting cabins, ticket machines and food stands, to name just a few.

Public transport is just one of the many industries within the transport sector, where the hygienic standards are generally very poor. When looking at other industries such as the airplanes, cruise ships and taxi’s, these standards aren’t much better as it is simply too expensive for the firms operating within these industries to offer constant cleaning and disinfection of each and every surface.

Another very import part of the transport industry are airports. As they are seen as an end destination and most people are traveling in via the public transport services. Airports have one specific point of access where all travellers need to pass through, that being the security check points, so conveyor belts, luggage carts, luggage trays, elevators, escalators these are all subject to cross contamination. The numbers of travellers on a daily basis have a high impact on hygienic standards in combination with the level of sanitation. It is an interesting detail to note that all security staff members are wearing surgical gloves to protect them from cross contamination.

Research has already showed us that pathogens can easily survive a few days up to several weeks on most type of surfaces, depending on the conditions (type of surface, temperature, humidity, etc.). So if the frequently touched surfaces aren’t cleaned on a daily basis these surfaces will become heavily contaminated, which could impose a large infection risk. Therefore, the organizations responsible, should take measures to reduces these risks and increase the hygienic standards within each and every industry within the transport sector.

As frequent cleaning and disinfection is key to producing a high quality hygienic standard, this could be a possibly solution. However, this doesn’t seem like a sustainable solution as it is simply to time consuming and to cost intensive for most organizations. Pretain Technologies offers the solution for this problem, which is not only durable but also very affordable. With PretainCoat™, our patented self-sanitizing (disinfecting) coating solution, the need for daily or maybe even hourly cleaning will be completely eliminated.

Additionally, the installation of the Ablatum ION in different types of transport, specifically within the public transport, could assist to further increase the hygienic standard and reduce the contamination risks, by eliminating most of the aerosols which could be present within the air. This is especially relevant in heavily crowded areas, where people aren’t able to keep a proper distance from each other.

Sports

The sports sectors is a quite a large one, however in the following paragraphs we will mainly focus on the indoor sporting facilities like gyms, because of the increased contamination risks within these facilities. With outdoor sports, the contamination risk via air is almost close to zero and with indoor sports like football or tennis, there is simply no need to reduce contamination risks of the surfaces, as there are almost non in play. Therefore, we suggest that only the facilities where the players meet and/or indoor sporting facilities like gyms will have to take additional hygienic measures in order to create a safe environment for their staff and clients.

In most of the indoor sporting facilities, loads of people (staff and clients) come together in the same areas such as the locker rooms/dressing rooms and the cafeteria. As a consequence all the surfaces within these areas are frequently touched, which could not only lead to increased contamination risks, but also lead to cross contamination. Research has shown that most micro-organisms can easily survive up to 48 hours on any type of surface, therefore imposing a great risk. If these surfaces within these areas aren’t frequently cleaned (every hour, or preferably after every single touch), then the (cross) contamination risks immediately start to increase. Most facilities only clean once or maybe twice a day, which is way too little in order to prevent (cross) contamination via surfaces like:

• Doorhandles
• Dressing rooms & showers
• Frontdesk
• Vending machines
• Toilet facilities
• Locker rooms
• Training devices
• Dumbells & weights

Therefore, additional hygienic measures should be taken in order to reduce possible (cross) contamination risks. With the current Covid-19 pandemic we are already seeing a rise in new hygienic measures such as: gyms who offer their clients a cleaning/disinfectant spray and a cloth, so that they can clean each device after use. However, most people do not seem to care about cleaning the devices properly or do not clean them at all. As a consequence, most of the staff and clients assume the environment is clean and safe, while in reality it’s not.

Not only with the current Covid-19 outbreak, but more particular any bacterial outbreak will have its effects on the sustainability of the above mentioned (sport) facilities. Hence, we introduce our self-sanitizing (disinfecting) coating solution, to solve all the issues at once. With our PretainCoat™ we are able to assist in keeping the high hygienic standards at all times. The need for constant cleaning/disinfection by either your staff or clients will be eliminated as the coating constantly sanitizes the coated surfaces by itself.

In addition, we are able to also reduce the amount of dangerous particles which might be floating within the air of facilities. This can be done by either installing our Ablatum ION or PT-Terminare units. Both these units, will reduce the amount of aerosols within the air by the usage of ionization and therefore also further reduce the contamination risks within the facility.

Retail

The retail sector consist of multiple industries, however we mainly focus on the B&M (brick and mortar) shops and supermarkets. This is because our products won’t have an impact on the online shopping environment. Within the B&M shops and supermarkets, the fear of contamination has grown massively over the last couple of months. More and more people are becoming afraid to touch certain surfaces without it being disinfected beforehand or immediately disinfecting their hand afterwards. This is mostly the result of the current Corona crisis. Before the current pandemic, most people did not seem to care wether a surface was clean or not. However, this view has completely changed over the last few months and hygiene has become utmost important for a big part of the population.

As a consequence, most shops now offer disinfection sprays and some paper towels so customers can disinfect some of the high risk surfaces themselves. Nonetheless, most of the frequently touched surfaces in B&M shops and supermarkets are still not being disinfected after every use. They are maybe disinfected once or twice a day, making them a potential source of microbial growth and therefore also a contamination risk. A list of most high risk surfaces within the retail industry are:

• Shopping trolleys
• Shopping baskets
• Doorknobs and doorhandels
• Sliding doors from cabinets/ freezers
• Self-service payment counters
• Pin/payment devices
• Checkout/pay desk

All these objects have a high cross contamination level and only with frequent cleaning can this be maintained to a high hygienic standard. Obviously this is also a risk factor for the staff members, as they work continually with the same items. Therefore, using PretainCoat™ on all these high risk surfaces is not only a more cost and time efficient solution, but also a safer one for both staff and customers.

In addition, B&M shops and supermarkets could also install a couple of Ablatum ION, depending on the size of their store. This will not only reduce the contamination risks which could take place via aerosols floating through the air, but will also be visual support to show that the stores have taken precautions in order to create a safe shopping environment. This could result in a more comfortable shopping environment for both staff and clients, which has become a crucial selling point in attracting customers in todays society.

Office Buildings

This sector has seen a change in their setup, practically all offices are now being created as open offices areas, where desks and meeting tables are in one open space. Coffee and lunch corners are in the same area, the larger companies have a restaurant or canteen, some may even have gym facilities. All these areas are being used by the employees on a continual basis. The cleaning standards are mostly set out by the company itself, these mainly consist of a daily cleaning routine after working hours. This cleaning standard might seem okay to most employees, as everything is cleaned daily. However, cleaning/disinfecting mostly does not happen during the day itself, when everyone is moving around the office and touching all kinds of surfaces such as doorknobs, light switches, office materials, the coffee machine, etc.

All these frequently touched surfaces start to become a source of microbial growth, which only increases during the day as most micro-organisms can easily survive 48 hours on most surfaces. This could result in a much higher contamination risk, especially when multiple people from different companies make use of the same amenities, such as elevators, staircases, security gates and toilets/washrooms. Moreover, if these shared amenities are in place, then the cleaning standards set for these amenities are mostly set out by the management of the building. This could mean that although a company itself maintains a very high cleaning standard in its own office or floor it could be confronted with a lower standard of the general areas of the building and cross contamination could be a realistic fact.

To achieve an overall high hygienic standard in an office building it would mean that all cleaning in the total building would need to follow the same high cleaning standard. However, as mentioned before this would mean that all the high risk/frequently touched surfaces should be cleaned multiple times a day, preferably every time after it has been touched by someone. Nonetheless, having a cleaning crew which cleans multiple times a day or giving employees their own cleaning supplies to do so would not really be feasible neither efficient.

In order to overcome such problems we introduce PretainCoat™, our self-sanitizing (disinfecting) coating solution. This highly durable and cost efficient solution, will take away all the above mentioned concerns. A daily cleaning after working hours will be more than enough to maintain a high hygienic, while our revolutionary coating does the rest. Our coating makes sure that 99,9% up to 99,999% of all harmful micro-organisms will be eliminated within minutes/hours. So, you don’t have to worry anymore about first cleaning the coffee machine after it just had been used by one of your colleagues. We do recommend not only coating high risk surfaces, but every surface which will be touched multiple times a day. For the reason that every minor reduction in the percentage of people on sick-leave, could make a major difference in costs when compared to the one time application of our coating, which will last and stay effective up to 10 years.

Besides the application of our self-sanitizing (disinfecting) coating to reduce the contamination risks within the offices, we also recommend the installation of both the Ablatum ION and the PT-Terminare within the offices and throughout the building. It all depends on wether you would like to swap your current lighting panels, with new, dimmable LED lighting panels or that you would prefer to keep the current lighting and just install the air disinfection boxes. Both products, are complementary to our coating as they reduce the amount of aerosols floating in the air via bi-polar or negative ionization and with that also reduce the contamination risk.

Hospitality

The Hospitality sector mainly consists out of 2 sub-sectors which are: accommodation such as hotels, resorts, serviced apartments and cruise liners, and food & drinks, such as restaurants, bars & cafés and nightclubs. The one thing these sub sectors have in common is that in most cases (when they are open for business) a large number of clients or staff members will reside in their premises.

More importantly in many cases direct contact between staff and clients will occur, for example in a restaurant/nightclub when food or drinks are being served, at the hotel lobby when clients are checking in/out or at the sports or spa amenities where clients are being assisted or treated. Because of this direct contact, the contamination risks are already heavily increased. Especially, when the staff does not take extra hygienic measures within these direct contact areas. If the surfaces in these areas like chairs, tables, food trays, doorhandles, sport devices, etc. aren’t cleaned after every use, both staff and client could be at risk of cross contamination via those surfaces.

Micro-organisms will readily grow on every unprotected surface, and even without constant cleaning and/or disinfection microbes can be spread across a room from transmission by hands, contaminated equipment or dispersed through the air. Disinfectant sprays and wipes are effective at removing bacteria from a contaminated surface, however these products will only be effective for around two hours. After this time has lapsed, any new bacteria landing on the surface will continue to grow. The latest research information shows us that numerous microbes can easily survive on any surface for more than 48 hours, making them a serious risk.

Frequent cleaning and sanitation (disinfection) is key to producing a high quality level of protection for both client and staff, when it fails the financial loss and reputation of a business can be significantly damaged. However, frequent cleaning (after every use) is almost not feasible neither time wise nor financially. Therefore, a solution to this problem would be the application of PretainCoat™ to all the frequently touched surfaces, in order to improve not only the hygienic standard, but also protect your staff and client. With the one time application of our coating, surfaces will become self-sanitizing (disinfecting) and as a consequence get rid of any harmful mirco-organisms within minutes. Our coating completely eliminates the need to clean or disinfect surfaces after every use and will last at least 10 years. This will not only result in a major saving in cleaning costs, but also in a more pleasant (working) environment for both staff and clients.

Additionally, we could also install either our air-disinfection units or our lighting panels, depending on the preference of the client. Both these units will reduce the amount of aerosols floating through the air and with that also reduce the possible contamination risk which could take place via the air. However, where the Ablatum ION is purely focused on air-disinfection and will be an additional unit within your environment, the PT-Terminare could be a replacement for you current lighting setup, where it will also result in air-disinfection. Both of these units will give visual support to the fact that your organization is taking additional precautions in order to protect their staff and clients. This will result in not only a much safer, but also a much more pleasant environment for everyone in it.

Healthcare

The prevalence of health-care associated infections (HAIs) all around the world is high. Of every hundred hospitalized patients, seven in developed and ten in developing countries can acquire one of the healthcare associated infections. Populations at stake are patients in Intensive Care Units (ICUs), burn units, undergoing organ transplant and neonates.

According to Extended Prevalence of Infection in Intensive Care study, the proportion of infected patients within the ICU are often as high as 51%. Based on extensive studies in USA and Europe shows that HCAI incidence density ranged from 13.0 to 20.3 episodes per thousand patient-days. Depending on the type of infection, death rates range from 2% (for Surgical site infections) up to as high as 25% (for Central line-associated bloodstream infections).

As hospital surfaces potentially are heavily contaminated with micro-organisms such as bacteria, viruses and fungal parasites, environmental cleanliness can be considered an essential aspect to reduce HAIs. However, we know from observational studies that less than 50% of hospital room surfaces are adequately cleaned and disinfected. Moreover, healthcare workers are important vectors in the transmission of micro-organisms between different surfaces, wards or patients.

Novel materials and cleaning techniques have been developed, but most are expensive and can only be safely used for terminal cleaning (e.g. ultraviolet germicidal irradiation, hydrogen peroxide vapor, etcetera). Self-sanitizing (disinfecting) surfaces circumvent most of these problems. With the application of PretainCoat™, surfaces will continuously reduce the bioburden of pathogens, potentially preventing their transmission and as a consequence may decrease HAIs as well as antimicrobial resistance.

Additionally, the usage of our coating together with other products such as the Ablatum ION or the PT-Terminare, could further reduce the risks of transmission of micro-organisms via the air and therefore possibly result into a even higher reduction of the amount of HAIs. Wether you want to implemented solely the air-disinfection units or the lighting panels (with air-disinfection) is purely up to the clients preference.