The Test for Contaminants

Health-based, hygienic cleaning, including desk cleaning, has also enhanced with the development of easy-to-use ATP technology. 'ATP is a universal energy molecule found in all animal, plant, bacterial, yeast, and mold cells,' says Morrison. 'The energy in ATP is luminescent, which can be detected on ATP monitoring systems.' By determining a level of ATP on used and cleaned desks, cleaners can gauge and benchmark cleaning results.

At one time these tests were relatively slow, taking one or two days for results to be determined. ATP testing also required a computer the size of a desktop or larger and had to be conducted by a trained worker. However, today's systems are much faster, the test can be performed by virtually any worker, and the actual ATP device is about the size of a television remote control.

'Because disease-causing microbials contain ATP, detecting it on a surface is often a red flag that contamination may be present,' explains Morrison. 'The test results take less than 15 seconds, allowing [building] managers and/or custodial workers ... to know very quickly if contaminants are present on a surface and if additional cleaning measures must be taken.' This information puts facilities one step closer to stopping the spread of disease, especially on hot spot surfaces such as desks.

Health-based cleaning is all about protecting and promoting health. Facility managers are not the only ones adopting health-based cleaning practices; we see this occurring among leading building service contracting firms as well. For instance, Coverall, one of the country's largest and most respected contract cleaning franchises, is not only a leading advocate for health-based cleaning, but has also managed to deliver a deeper, healthier cleaning result to customers at the same price as less effective methods.

Although health-based, hygienic cleaning systems may not address every health risk, they are a big step in keeping desk surfaces, along with many other surfaces, clean and healthy.