Here at MCS we spend a great deal of time measuring ATP. But what is all the fuss about ATP?
ATP is short for adenosine triphosphate. ATP is an energy molecule that is found in all living cells and organic matter. That means it is found in people’s cells, plants, food, bacteria, and any other living or previously living cells. When a cell dies and decays it leaves behind ATP residue.
This is a critical molecular structure because ATP is a food source for living cells, bacteria, pathogens, and is the engine for all molecular activity. ATP is measured by taking a swab (which we are intimately acquainted with after the COVID-19 pandemic), wiping it on a surface, mixing it with illuminating chemicals, then sticking the swab in a luminometer. When the ATP mixes with the illuminating chemicals, it produces light which is measured in Relative Light Units (RLU). The luminometer measures these light units. The brighter the sample the more ATP that is on the surface. If you want a deeper understanding of the chemistry of ATP, RLUs and how luminometers work you can read this article.
All this being said, it brings into question the type of material that the surface is made of. In healthcare facilities, there are many different types of surfaces. You can have hard top surfaces like countertops, door handles, phones etc. These materials typically consist of laminates, stainless steel, hard plastics, granite, etc. On the other end of the spectrum, you have porous materials like fabrics, carpets, wood, etc. ATP is captured, stored, and hidden better in porous materials than in non-porous ones. In addition to the surface you are sampling, you must consider where on the surface you are testing. Creases in chairs, the back side of handles, underside of counters can register much higher than the flat front side of objects. This makes sense given that facilities often forget to clean the “hard-to-reach places.”
Now why does any of this matter?
Without ATP, microorganisms can’t grow. Can a human grow and live without food? The obvious answer is No, and neither can living microorganisms. As most people know there are good microorganisms and bad microorganisms. If you can keep the food source for microorganisms as close to zero as possible you can effectively starve microorganisms to death.
In healthcare facilities cleanliness and sterilization is of critical importance. As healthcare providers it is your job to keep your facility as clean as possible. This ensures your patients can come to get medical attention without the risk of catching some other infection. Hospitals are estimated to spend an average of $25-$30 billion a year on HAIs (healthcare–associated infections).
But why test for ATP when you can test for bacteria and other microorganisms?
One of the greatest benefits of ATP testing is it can be performed very quickly. With the latest technology, you can get an ATP reading back as quickly as 15 seconds. This gives you nearly instant feedback on how dirty your surfaces are. This is why industries like food processing have adopted this method of testing. Again, if the main food source for microorganisms is minimized, we can then infer that the chances of microbial growth are also minimized if not eliminated. These tests are faster and more cost-effective, allowing more samples to be taken faster. We also use microbial tests to ensure our process results in a disinfected surface. But ATP testing is the “quick down and dirty” test to determine cleanliness (pun intended).
Will ATP levels go to 0?
The short answer to this is no. ATP is a building block of all living organisms and organic matter; it is nearly impossible to completely eliminate ATP from surfaces forever. There will still be people and other living things shedding ATP off their skin and dead cells. But if you can minimize if not kill the growth of microorganisms on a surface you will over time lower and minimize your ATP levels. Therefore, if you see a decline in ATP levels you know there is a decline in microbial activity. Conversely, if microbial activity is going up, you should see a resulting increase in ATP counts because there is more microbial activity generating more ATP.
At the end of the day, ATP is foundational to living molecular activity and serves as a credible indicator of what molecular activity you have on the surface. It is easy and quick to measure and gives you objective, verifiable data to monitor your facility. With regular consistent measurements, you can more effectively manage the cleanliness of your facility and protect those closest to you (patients and staff).
Check out our proprietary 6-step process that eliminates all microbial activity, but just as importantly helps minimize ATP levels throughout your facility. Or you can contact us here for a free consultation where we can answer any of your concerns and help explain how this new information can be used to keep your staff and patients safe.
If you would like to read more on ATP, HAIs, or CDC guidelines here are some additional resources you can look at.
Direct Medical costs of HAIs paper written by Douglas Scott II
MCS helps dental and healthcare facilities become safe places for patients and staff to work and seek medical and dental attention. We help our clients by not only providing long-term disinfecting and infection control protection solutions for their facilities, but also by testing and verifying the cleanliness of those facilities. Every office we have been in has had some level of contamination, and our clients have seen a 100% decrease in microbial activity and an average decrease of 75% in their ATP levels. If you would like help in getting your office cleaner and safer, and have objective verifiable data to prove it, call us today at 469-778-7550 or contact us here.
