ISO 21702 As the enemy of viruses.
In this global society, diseases are outbreaks rapidly and easily across borders and continents, affecting health and the global economy. Plastic is so toxic and is very harmful to the human body because of the chemical used in its production. These toxins can cause cancer, diabetes, immune system problems, and a lot more. Apart from these effects, humans can develop serious health issues like asthma, liver damage, nerve and brain damage, kidney diseases, etc. There are different types of methods used to kill viruses like steam sterilization, flash sterilization, ISO 22196, ISO 20743, respectively. Among these measuring tests, ISO 21702 is a method of measuring anti-viral activity on surfaces or textiles.
It is designed to test the capability of plastic or other materials to kill the virus that has come into contact with the treated material. Plastic and the risk of infection caused by it are directly linked to each other. Diseases caused by plastic materials are very harmful to both human and marine life. It is a non-biodegradable substance and will not decompose easily. It breaks down into tiny plastic particles but will never fully decompose, affecting marine life thoroughly. The ISO 21702 testing is usually done on antimicrobial plastic. And however, after the test is practiced, the treated plastic will not continue to work as before. The test helps to detoxify all the germs from the surface. If this continues, the graph rate of the population of humans and animals will decrease, and this will lead to the end up of living organisms.
What is the virus?
- Viruses are biological entities that can grow easily. It is microscopic particles that are present almost everywhere on earth. For example- coronavirus, Smallpox, mumps, chickenpox, rubella, etc. Some Viruses can even lead to cancer. Viruses caused may affect one Organism. They are harmful because they are attached to a host cell, then the DNA is copied by the host cell. New viruses are born and then released to the body, which is more powerful than others. The virus is complex, and they contain genetic material in it, either DNA or RNA and scientists had done great work by introducing this test method and using different techniques to compare the DNA or RNA virus to find out more about the virus. It can spread through touch, direct contact, Bodily fluid, insect-contaminated food or water, etc. Today’s pandemic condition is all because of increased human-animal contact, climate change, air pollution, etc., which has severely affected the immunity level of the body and also attacks on the liver and will experience mild to moderate respiratory illness. Viruses have a habit of changing over time. Some changes made are very small, but others can be huge. They affect the immune system of the body. Diseases are tracked in the body after a few days. The body’s immune system detects a virus, and it automatically starts taking measures to protect the body until it harms the body more. Some origins of viruses are the Regressive hypothesis, cellular origin hypothesis, etc.
How is plastic harmful?
As we all know, plastic is toxic in nature and lasts forever. It can not biodegrade or decompose. It breaks down into tiny particles. These tiny plastic particles are displacing the algae needed to sustain their life which feeds on them. Plastics have become essential components of every product and packaging because they are durable, cheap in scale, and lightweight. It does not decompose and sticks to the environment for years. Over millions of marine animals are killed every year due to pollution caused by it or by feeding plastic particles. Oil, gas, and coal are the fossil fuel which is building blocks of plastics. Fracking is a method through which natural gas and oil are extracted. Education is important to solve this marine pollution.
When the public gets involved in these issues by reducing reusing and recycling plastic, using reusable cloth bags instead of plastic bags, and properly keeping garbage to prevent any fly-away plastics in the environment, if these measures are taken, then pollution caused will decrease. Plastic bags thrown in the environment reduce the fertility of the soil and will lead to lesser or harmful production of food grains. Plastic bags do not dissolve and remain up to 1000years of contaminants in soil, waterways, etc. Burning plastic materials also releases toxic and harmful air pollutants, which will harm the liver. Once they enter rivers, oceans, soil, the air, they can get into our food chain easily, and then their impact on our health is unknown.
All about ISO 21702 method:-
It measured anti-viral activity on plastic or surface against virus and was published in 2019–05. The full name of this standard is ISO 21702:2019 measurement of anti-viral activity on a plastic surface or non-porous anti-viral surface or textiles. Its turnaround time is 4–6 weeks. The testing laboratory is present all over India. The laboratory can perform that on 8viruses, and on request, additional strains could be added.
Description of the test:-
- It provides a quantitative evaluation of the anti-viral activity of anti-viral surfaces or textiles.
- They expose the antiviral test surface to the virus for almost 24 hours at 25degree Celsius.
- The test method uses these organisms like Influenza A virus (H3N2), Human coronavirus(229E), Beta coronavirus (OC-43)(ATCC VR-1558), etc.
On passing this test, the product can be labeled armed to support any claim relating to the test.
This test method is very useful for making the environment oxide-free, and it is the most commonly requested test method used for measuring antiviral activity on plastic surfaces or textiles.
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