Personal hygiene and general cleanliness are never more important than during a worldwide sanitary crisis. While washing our hands regularly is primordial to reduce the spread of infectious diseases, so is keeping clean all the many surfaces we encounter. ISO has a number of standards that help households and industries stay free from nasty pathogens.
Antiviral textiles and plastics
Did you know that your clothing could be a virus killer? Antiviral textiles and plastics have coatings or other properties that absorb, kill or prevent the transfer of viruses, thus reducing the risk of them propagating.
ISO 18184, Textiles – Determination of antiviral activity of textile products, is an important tool for manufacturers to know if their products actually work, because it provides testing methods against specific viruses.
ISO 21702, Measurement of antiviral activity on plastics and other non-porous surfaces, details effective methods to test if products treated with antiviral agents resist specific viruses and thus are fit for the market.
Antibacterial textiles and plastics
It’s not just viruses we want to be avoiding. Nasty bacteria can bring a host of health issues and have given rise to the development of antibacterial products to kill them off.
ISO 20743, Textiles – Determination of antibacterial activity of textile products, specifies quantitative test methods to determine the antibacterial activity of all antibacterial textile products, including cloth, wadding, thread and material for clothing, bedclothes, home furnishings and more.
ISO 22196, Measurement of antibacterial activity on plastics and other non-porous surfaces, allows manufacturers to assess just how well their antibacterial treatments perform.
Breathing fresh air
Heating, ventilation and air conditioning all affect the air that we breathe when indoors, and many are fitted with filters to extract particles that could adversely affect our health.
ISO has a range of standards for air filters that help manufacturers perform essential quality checks and assist maintenance staff to choose the right ones.
ISO 16890, Air filters for general ventilation, comes in six parts and describes the equipment, materials, specifications, requirements and procedures to test the performance and efficiency of air filters in a consistent and meaningful way.
All of these standards contribute to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, in particular Goal 3 on good health and well-being. These, and many more, can be purchased from your national ISO member or through the ISO Store.