Introduction

In the infection prevention and control industry, environmental cleaning and disinfecting of surfaces is becoming more important than ever before. Research show that environmental cleaning and disinfection can play an important role in helping to prevent the spread of infection. A new, promising technology in this industry is the application of disinfectants utilizing electrostatic technology for proper surface disinfection.

Electrostatics is a proven technology in industries such as agricultural and automotive.

What is Electrostatics ?

Electrostatics is stationary electric charges or fields as opposed to electric currents.

• Eg: when lint is attracted to clothes, or when dust clings to a TV screen

Electrostatics involves the buildup of charge on the surface of objects due to contact with other surfaces. Electrostatic induction charging is a method of creating or generating static electricity in a material by bringing an electrically charged object near it. This causes electrical charges to be redistributed in the material, resulting in one side having an excess of either positive (+) or negative (-) charges.

How it works

Most surface areas are neutral (uncharged) or negative. Electrostatic technology for surface disinfection is a method of applying disinfectants to a target surface area by utilizing electrostatic force. Simply put, the sprayer places an electrical charge on the droplets and disperses them across a target surface area, providing a comprehensive, consistent and uniform coverage in which the droplets stick to vertical, horizontal and three-dimensional surfaces (“wraps” around the target area).

This revolutionary technology takes less time to achieve the desired effect, while reaching all areas of a surface, typically unreachable by regular sprayers. This reduces the time needed for proper disinfection, provide comprehensive coverage, use less disinfectant, and are easy to operate and maintain.

In conclusion

Proper cleaning and disinfecting of surfaces, is a proven defense against the spread of infection. Using electrostatic spray technology, together with standardized protocols and procedures for proper surface disinfection, can help meet these challenges.