Chemical Intelligence announces first key antimicrobial rollouts

Antimicrobial additive producer Chemical Intelligence has announced several key brand and printer partnerships, including with Tesco and the Co-op Group, and a leading banknote printer.

Chemical Intelligence's Jonathan Hibbard demonstrates Safe-to-Touch-Print on the Ultrachem stand at Ipex

Trials currently underway at the Co-op include rolling antimicrobial coatings out to
fish and raw meat packaging, tissue boxes, nappy packaging and ‘bags for life’, while Tesco is trialing the Bioseal product on tissue, tea, pizza and cereal boxes.

Meanwhile the leading banknote printer is considering the product as an alternative to the antimicrobial silver-based coatings also being tested for use on banknotes.

Chemical Intelligence has also announced the addition of water-based inks and coatings specialist Ultrachem to its roster of distributers, which also includes Druckfarben, Shackell Edwards, AteCe Graphic Products, Pearltec and Epple Druckfarben. The company has been demonstrating its Bioseal product on Ultrachem's Ipex stand.

The company's additive can be added, the company says, to any ink, varnish and coating at “negligible cost,” to kill 99.999% of a wide range of bacteria, viruses and fungi “within four minutes”.

The company is currently keen to get as many distributers onboard as possible, explained chief executive Rob Gros. “What everybody’s realising is we need to make this product as open as possible so that awareness about its importance is raised,” he said. “Exclusivity should come later down the line.”

He added that working with a range of distributers covering the same geographical areas was crucial so that the additive could be supplied in water-based products, courtesy of Ultrachem for example, as well as UV and oil-based consumables, supplied by the likes of Druckfarben.

Chemical Intelligence is also currently in talks with Estée Lauder and Starbucks about adding antimicrobial coatings to each brand’s products. “I would hope that within the next two years you will see widespread usage of antimicrobial coatings on medical, pharmaceutical and food print, and any high contact print such as paper cups and banknotes,” said Gros. “Really this should be used on everything.”

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Can antimicrobial coatings be the next best thing in the NHS?

The subject of healthcare-associated infection (HAI) has at no point over the last several decades been far from newspaper headlines. Nor has it been far from the infection-fighting-promises of politicians.

Incentives to reduce rates have of course met with some success, with rates of C. difficile and MRSA now finally falling. And yet, with the most recent data suggesting HAIs are still responsible for an estimated 5,000 UK deaths each year and acquired by 6.4% of hospital patients, and E. coli and salmonella now on the rise clearly regular, thorough hand-washing incentives and swabbing patients to test for infection as they’re admitted, is not quite working.

Which is why some are arguing for another, invisible and so largely unheard of, measure to be more consistently deployed. This measure is in fact one which has been around in some healthcare settings, and indeed in domestic and other public settings, for as long as ten years. Once applied it comes in many forms. Walls, light switches, pull cords, patient notes, uniforms, floors, bed frames- all can help minimise the spread of bacteria and viruses through the application of an antimicrobial coating.

With more suppliers of this type of coating now springing up, the science varies from coating to coating. But all claim the additive can be added to a product’s standard finish for negligible cost. And all claim to eradicate, over a several-hour or day-long period, up to 99.999% of a wide range of bacteria, viruses and fungi.

Studies carried out into use of antimicrobial coatings in the healthcare environments certainly back these claims up. A pilot study undertaken by Birmingham Heartlands NHS Trust in 2008 found coating items in a ward reduced bacterial contamination by 95.8% compared to one with no coated items.

“The studies that have been carried out have shown that the difference between treated and untreated areas is extensive,” says environmental health practitioner and commentator on BBC Watchdog and Rogue Restaurants Lisa Ackerley. “And the good thing is the bacteria won’t become resistant and there’s no risks associated with the coatings. These coatings are so cheap that really it’s a no brainer.”

The problem, say those advocating the coatings and why many will be surprised to hear of their existence, is the perennial one of lack of joined-up NHS thinking. This year is shaping up to be something of a watershed moment for antimicrobial coatings in general, with plans to add these to the new polymer bank notes, on meat packaging at major supermarket chains, and even more widely than currently on magazines, leaflets and textiles. But the NHS remains the toughest sell, with use varying wildly between different trusts and so some hospitals boasting a wide range of coated items and others none at all.

“You could go to a hospital in London and then go to the next geographical hospital and find different products,” says Paul Morris, managing director at Addmaster, the suppliers of silver-based anti microbial Biomaster.

He explains that currently the merits of new products all have to be assessed on an individual basis by each trust: “You find the trusts don’t want to listen to one another. I went to a trust in the North West and the chair’s exact words were: ‘We are just so busy trying to do everything the government’s told us to do to fight MRSA, we haven’t got time to look at new products.’”

Morris adds that even trusts receptive to the coating often don’t roll this out on all products and surfaces as fast as might be expected. “The rate with which items are introduced hasn’t gotten any faster over the ten years, it’s always difficult. They never say ‘yes we want all these types of products.’”

Derek Adams, development manager at silver-based antimicrobial producer N9, a company so far successful in selling into private but not public healthcare settings, adds: “I believe the barriers getting N9 on light-switches, door handles etc. are to do with the way it would raise awareness that unprotected items need to be replaced. It’s not about the cost of new ones which would be very little, but having to replace everything would be expensive. Just as when companies introduce ‘new and improved’ products, the implication is that the old one was inferior.”

This could be seen as an alarming state of affairs considering the coatings’ potential. Certainly environmental health expert Ackerley thinks, though hand washing should still be rigorously enforced, it “would be very useful to put them everywhere.”

Rob Gros, chief executive at Chemical Intelligence, the company behind antimicrobial additive Bioseal, sums up the situation thus: “Most HAIs aren’t lethal, but result in an increased length of hospital stay and significantly increased healthcare costs. These additional costs are estimated to be £1 Billion for the NHS per year.”

Antimicrobial coatings could, then, be an infection-fighting ally NHS trusts can ill afford to overlook.

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Business inspection: Coatings lead to healthier performance

Geoff Neal Litho found inline aqueous coatings offer a low-cost way of adding value.

The challenge

Leafing through an in-flight airline magazine at 35,000 feet is something many of us might do to pass the time during a plane journey. But what perhaps most of us don’t consider is how many pairs of hands a product like this will pass through, and the potential for spreading bacteria.

But emerging technologies such as British-developed and manufactured coating additive BioSeal and other antimicrobial coated products are starting to become more popular in industries where it is important to keep the level of bacteria down. This includes healthcare items, printed products for schools and GP surgeries and other highly circulated or potentially germ-laden items such as banknotes.

Middlesex-based printer Geoff Neal Litho has recently become the UK’s first BioSeal certified sheetfed printer, meaning that when it uses antimicrobial coatings on printed products its clients will be able to display a BioSeal ‘Safe to Touch Print’ logo on products that use the coating.

The business decided to seek the certification to set itself apart from competition and enable it to attract new clients and offer additional services to existing customers. The move marks a natural progression for the firm, which has been offering aqueous coatings to customers since it invested in its first coating press, a five-colour Heidelberg Speedmaster XL 105 with inline coating, in 2010. It has since installed a six-colour Heidelberg Speedmaster XL 106 and a four-colour Heidelberg SM 52 Anicolor, both of which also have inline coating.

“Cross-infection control is a massive area, not just in the healthcare sector but in any public space, from schools to airports. BioSeal is still quite a new product, so it gives us a chance to be innovative as a business,” says Geoff Neal sales manager Gareth Davies.

BioSeal is a biocide in the form of micro-particles suspended in a resin. The particles are harmless and dormant until touched, at which point they kill harmful bacteria including MRSA and E. coli. The technology has been found to reduce harmful bacteria on surfaces by 99.999% and it remains effective for the lifetime of the product.

The BioSeal technology is distributed to approved ink manufacturers who incorporate it into their existing products. It can be used in print-based sealants, varnishes and coatings to offer up to a Log 5 reduction against harmful pathogens without significantly increasing costs.

“The important thing about BioSeal is that there is no difference to the look and feel of your print. You’re not changing anything, but for very little cost you’re removing a problem that most people don’t want to have; the transfer of germs. There’s very little additional work to do and very little cost associated with it,” explains Geoff Neal managing director Sam Neal.

The method

To achieve BioSeal certification the firm had to print sheets with BioSeal coating and send them off to the manufacturer, which ran a range of tests with two different bacteria it applied to the sheets. The manufacturer, and then an independent laboratory, then tested against a standard uncoated sheet as well and counted platelets at the end of the process to analyse the reduction in the number of bacteria.

Davies explains: “The process took about eight weeks overall. We passed with a greater than Log 5 reduction over 20 hours on both reference organisms. Put simply, the number of bacteria on the sample was reduced by more than 99.999% by the BioSeal coating. Now we’ve got the certification our clients can add the ‘Safe to Touch Print’ logo to the back of their work. It’s a very new and innovative product and there’s a lot of interest out there from both print management companies and end-users that are looking at this product.”

The firm can now offer antimicrobial coating alongside its other standard aqueous coatings, which include gloss, silk and matt, water- and oil- resistant barrier coatings, fragrance coatings and drip-off gloss coating.

One of the major benefits of offering inline aqueous coatings, according to Davies, is the relative low cost in comparison to offline processes such as lamination and spot gloss UV varnish. And Neal says it has proven useful for firms requiring longer run lengths. “Spot-gloss UV varnish for run lengths of 500 copies is cost-efficient and it gives you a very startling effect. But a drip-off gloss coating enables you to do that on a brochure or longer-run, multi-pagination work and it gives a client huge cost savings. If you had 5,000 copies of three or four sections of a brochure that you wanted to highlight pages of with a gloss UV varnish, you’d be talking about two or three days lost. You won’t be losing that time with drip-off gloss coating because it’s done inline.”

Another major advantage of aqueous coatings are the green credentials, adds Neal. “These products are recyclable with low or no environmental impact, but you’ve also got a quality improvement.”

The result

Since introducing aqueous coatings an increasing number of clients have used the service for a wide range of different applications. “We’ve used it for things like innovative direct mail products, high-end auction house catalogues and fine art books. The automotive and property industries also highlight pictures using the drip off gloss coating,” reports Neal.

Davies adds: “We have done some long leaflet runs as well; some big retail clients have used coatings to highlight and enhance a piece of print. We can now enhance a lower value product without adding expensive offline processing.”

The company’s most used coating is the standard silk, which Neal says the company uses “all day, every day”. And Davies says that while fragrance coatings and antimicrobial coatings are relatively new, the firm is already developing a number of possible applications.

Neal explains that the business has tended to buy some coatings far more than others, in line with its customer demand. “We use a variety of regular coatings like premier, silk and gloss coatings. The drip-off, BioSeal and fragrance coatings are asked for less frequently, but we can still source these in sensible quantities and timeframes.”

Since starting to offer aqueous coatings four years ago, the firm has found that there are a number of added benefits. As well as the cost savings and the environmental benefits, Neal reports that some customers also prefer the subtlety of an aqueous coating.

“Spot gloss UV varnish gives you a higher gloss result, but being a little bit more subtle can be more appealing for a lot of people. A lovely corporate folder with a matt lamination and a high gloss spot UV varnish on it looks great and is quite hard-hitting, but it doesn’t work when you want to be a bit more subtle,” he says.

The business has also found itself able to work with a number of new high-end clients. “Buying the Heidelberg XLs with coaters has definitely boosted our turnover and enabled us to win contracts that we wouldn’t even have been considered for before,” says Neal.

One happy customer, recalls Davies, was car manufacturer Toyota for whose Lexus brand Geoff Neal recently produced a direct mail piece with a soft-touch coating. A spokesman for Toyota said: “We’re really pleased with the effect the soft-touch coating has achieved. The addition of the coating on this mailer has given an extra dimension to the piece, the tactile feel enhancing the overall quality and reflecting well the brand positioning of Lexus.”

Geoff Neal Litho has found a way to add value at low cost by using aqueous coatings. And with demand for products treated with antimicrobial coatings looking like it will grow and grow, the company may be the UK’s first sheetfed printer to be BioSeal certified, but others will almost certainly follow its lead before long.

TOP TIPS

Follow technology developments and innovations closely to continually consider how to add value to your business. BioSeal is a relatively new technology that Geoff Neal Litho has embraced in order to offer more to its existing clients and win specialist contracts.

Achieving the BioSeal certification requires attention to detail and good planning.

Listen to the needs of your customers. Geoff Neal invested in Heidelberg technology with inline coating because clients were requesting it. Consider your average run lengths to determine the most suitable investment. Spot gloss UV varnish may be more suitable for companies with predominantly short run lengths, but for larger jobs inline coating is more time efficient and cost-effective.

Understand the benefits and differences of coating as an alternative to lamination. “Spot gloss UV varnish gives you a higher gloss result, but being a little bit more subtle can be more appealing for a lot of people. A lovely corporate folder with a matt lamination and a high gloss spot UV varnish on it looks great and is quite hard-hitting, but it doesn’t work when you want to be a bit more subtle,” explains managing director Sam Neal.

Maintenance of machinery is vital to allow for a consistent coat across the sheet.

“A lot of companies are running so hectically now that they don’t build in time for maintenance. It’s very important to keep machinery working to the best of its ability,” says sales manager Gareth Davies.

Listen to your press manufacturer’s guidance. “When Heidelberg installed our first press, they did a great job of explaining how important the maintenance processes are to getting the best results,” says Neal.

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New BioSeal coating promises 'safe to touch' print

A new British-developed and manufactured coating could revolutionise the production of antimicrobial printed products. BioSeal has been developed by scientists at infection control R&D specialist Chemical Intelligence. The firm has agreed an exclusive deal with Shackell Edwards, part of the Druckfarben group, for its use in coatings for the printing industry.

BioSeal is a biocide that involves micro-particles in a resin. The particles are harmless and dormant until touched, at which point they kill harmful bacteria including MRSA and E. coli.

Potential applications include healthcare items such as patient records, printed products for schools and GP surgeries, as well as notoriously germ-laden items such as banknotes.

Chemical Intelligence chief executive Rob Gros said the method means bacteria cannot build resistance, with tests showing that BioSeal reduces harmful bacteria on surfaces by up to 99.999%. The firm has a patent pending on the technology, which it said remains effective for the lifetime of the product. 

"It’s a novel and clever technology that has allowed us to reach this level of efficiency, and not at high cost," Gros said. "I haven’t seen another product anywhere that can get close to this."

Shackell Edwards has formulated a range of BioSeal coatings for print at its factory in Corby, including oil-based, water-based and UV coatings. "It’s helping printers add value to print," said Grant Penfield, group managing director at parent Druckfarben, who said BioSeal was more effective and less expensive than existing silver-based antimicrobial coatings.

He hopes this affordability and ease-of-use will lead to wide-scale adoption. "Printers’ customers will benefit from a safe-to-touch antimicrobial surface at minimal extra cost. The additional cost in the coating is about 10%-15%, so it doesn’t add up to much in the overall cost of a printed job," he said.

Users can add a special BioSeal brandmark to printed products that have been coated to indicate when a product carries the protection. BioSeal has been field-tested by a range of printers using a variety of sheetfed and web presses, and with inline and offline coating units.

"The coatings work normally on-press, and don’t change the appearance of the print or cause yellowing," Penfield added.

For more information visit www.shackell-edwards.co.uk

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