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ORAL PRESENTATION Open Access
A treatment for banknotes against viruses,
bacteria and fungi
FN Renaud
1*
, H Rosset
2
, N Vast
3
From International Conference on Prevention & Infection Control (ICPIC 2011)
Geneva, Switzerland. 29 June – 2 July 2011
Introduction / objectives
Banknote paper was treated in order to prevent growth
of micro organisms and consequently limit risks of con-
tamination during handling.
Methods
The Biogard√
®
paper substrate was treated by impreg-
nation with patented harmless active compounds. Anti-
bacterial activity against Eschericha coli and
Staphylococcus aureus was determined using ISO 20743
(transfer method) standard, antifungal activity using
AATCC 30 (part III) against Aspergillus niger and anti-
viral a ctivity using EN 1447666+A1 standard against
H1H1 influenza A virus. Biocompatibility was assessed
according to ISO 10 993 standard with a skin irritation
studyintherabbitandasensitizationstudyinthegui-
nea pig.
Results
Antibacterial activity: no CFU was observed for both
speci es after 24 hours of incubation. In these conditions
the bacteria could not grow on the paper and were even
killed. Antifungal activity: no growth on the surface
paper was observed after 7 days of incubation. Aspergil-
lus niger development was totally inhibited.
Antiviral activity: the reduction rate of viral titre was
greater than 4 (4.15) showing that t he paper had a
strong vi rucidal activity against H1N1 influenza A virus
after a contact time of 1 hour.
Conclusion
Banknotes are one of the most frequently-handled docu-
ments in the world. Most bacteria and fungi can survive
averylongtimeonthiskindofsupport.Evensome
virus can survive in specific environmental conditions.
Moreover, it has been shown that banknotes can contri-
bute to the transmission of pathogenic germs. The anti-
microbial pro perties o f Biogard √
®
banknote treatment
could be an innovative approach in infection control
and contribute to preventing cross contaminations.
Disclosure of interest
None declared.
Author details
1
NOSOCO.TECH, UMR-CNRS-5510 MATEIS, Université Lyon1, Lyon, France.
2
Research & Development, Arjowiggins Security, Apprieu, France.
3
Marketing,
Arjowiggins Security, Paris, France.
Published: 29 June 2011
doi:10.1186/1753-6561-5-S6-O37
Cite this article as: Renaud et al.: A treatment for banknotes against
viruses, bacteria and fungi. BMC Proceedings 2011 5(Suppl 6):O37.
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1
NOSOCO.TECH, UMR-CNRS-5510 MATEIS, Université Lyon1, Lyon, France
Full list of author information is available at the end of the article
Renaud et al. BMC Proceedings 2011, 5(Suppl 6):O37
http://www.biomedcentral.com/1753-6561/5/S6/O37
© 2011 Renaud et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. This i s an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons
Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in
any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
