ATP Testing Methods

Executive Summary:

• NSF International conducted a study to compare commercial ATP hygiene monitoring systems’ performance on a 4″x4″ stainless steel surface under real-world conditions.
• The study compared five ATP hygiene monitoring systems: AccuPoint Advanced, 3M CleanTrace, BioControl MVP ICON, Hygiena Ensure, and Charm PocketSwab+.
• The systems’ performance was evaluated based on the coefficient of variation or consistency of scores and the recovery of ATP from a stainless steel surface, including a randomly placed dot of ATP and a homogenously distributed ATP.
• AccuPoint Advanced performed the best in all categories and exhibited a percent ATP recovery that was twice as efficient as the next most efficient monitoring system.
• 3M CleanTrace, BioControl MVP ICON, Hygiena Ensure, and Charm PocketSwab+ had varying degrees of performance, with Charm PocketSwab+ performing the best in the recovery of ATP from a stainless steel surface with a randomly placed dot of ATP.
• The study indicates that ATP systems’ performance may be affected by the presence of dirt, which is not homogeneously distributed on surfaces after cleaning and may be randomly distributed in small spots on surfaces.

• Estimated time to read: 8-10 minutes.