an investigation of domestic laundry in europe - habits ... - SIFO
an investigation of domestic laundry in europe - habits ... - SIFO an investigation of domestic laundry in europe - habits ... - SIFO
4 Hygiene effects of laundry processes inEuropePaul M. J. Terpstra & Inge A. C. van Kessel4.1 IntroductionIn this chapter the research on the hygienic quality of European launderingpractices is described.Until recently little attention has been paid to the hygienic properties of moderndaily laundering practices. As clothes hygiene is the major benefit oflaundering (apart from the removal of visible soil and stains), more insightinto the hygienic implications of modern laundering practices is needed inorder to design appropriate policy measures on public health and environmentalpolicy issues.As will be outlined in the next section, there are indications that changes indomestic laundering have substantially stressed the conditions for appropriatehygiene in the real life situation. To investigate this in detail, this part of theresearch is divided into two main parts: First we look at the hygienic quality atlow temperatures (i.e.15°C and 30°C) in four European countries: Spain,Greece, Norway and the Netherlands. Secondly since no accurate method forassessing laundering hygiene in a real life situation exists, development of atesting method to assess the hygiene effects of the washing process for standardisationpurposes is presented.
Hygiene effects of laundry processes in Europe 694.1.1 Theoretical backgroundDuring usage, textile articles are contaminated with visible soil and invisiblemicro-organisms. These micro-organisms on textiles may, under certain conditions,pose a health risk. For example if a towel is sucked by a child sufferingfrom scarlet fever and then by a second child, the organism causing thedisease can be transmitted to the second child. Many such objects (e.g. ahandkerchief, a toy or a towel) may transmit infection under appropriate conditions.It should therefore be recognised that the achievement of adequatehygiene is a very important aspect of household laundering.During textile laundering a substantial reduction in the amounts of microorganismscan take place. In cleaning research, substantial attention is paid todisinfection and to the interrelation between cleaning and disinfection. Threemain hygiene mechanisms in textile laundering are discriminated:- Physical removal.In a household washing process the main hygiene effect is probably the removalof the dirt itself; when dirt is removed well, the micro-organisms areremoved with it. During the main wash cycle of a washing process the soiland the micro-organisms are suspended and the majority of micro-organismswill be drained off in one of the rinses. This mechanism is referred to asphysical removal.- Thermal disinfection.In addition to physical removal, micro-organisms can be killed by heat. Whensuspended in the suds, micro-organisms are sensitive to temperature andchemical disinfectants and are killed easily [6]. In general a higher temperaturespeeds up thermal disinfection. In a laboratory study on hygiene conductedin 1989 using tests with heavy-duty detergent in a household washingmachine, Ainsworth and Fletcher showed that Ent.faecalis applied on textilefabric was removed much better at 50°C than at 30°C; the difference beingabout 3 log units [28]. Cross-contamination was found at both temperaturesbut substantially more at the lower temperature. In another study carried outthat same year, Ainsworth and Davis[29] showed that both for a heavy-dutypowder with activated bleach and for a liquid detergent the disinfection wassubstantially better at 50°C than at 30°C. It should be noted that Ainsworth’sinvestigations might yield overly optimistic values, as the tests were carriedout with artificially applied test organisms. In normal laundry the organismsoccur in soil aggregates that make them more persistent. The latter has beendemonstrated by Terpstra [27] and Raschle [30] for the household situation.Both found substantially lower disinfection values in tests in which normally
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4 Hygiene effects <strong>of</strong> <strong>laundry</strong> processes <strong>in</strong>EuropePaul M. J. Terpstra & Inge A. C. v<strong>an</strong> Kessel4.1 IntroductionIn this chapter the research on the hygienic quality <strong>of</strong> Europe<strong>an</strong> launder<strong>in</strong>gpractices is described.Until recently little attention has been paid to the hygienic properties <strong>of</strong> moderndaily launder<strong>in</strong>g practices. As clothes hygiene is the major benefit <strong>of</strong>launder<strong>in</strong>g (apart from the removal <strong>of</strong> visible soil <strong>an</strong>d sta<strong>in</strong>s), more <strong>in</strong>sight<strong>in</strong>to the hygienic implications <strong>of</strong> modern launder<strong>in</strong>g practices is needed <strong>in</strong>order to design appropriate policy measures on public health <strong>an</strong>d environmentalpolicy issues.As will be outl<strong>in</strong>ed <strong>in</strong> the next section, there are <strong>in</strong>dications that ch<strong>an</strong>ges <strong>in</strong><strong>domestic</strong> launder<strong>in</strong>g have subst<strong>an</strong>tially stressed the conditions for appropriatehygiene <strong>in</strong> the real life situation. To <strong>in</strong>vestigate this <strong>in</strong> detail, this part <strong>of</strong> theresearch is divided <strong>in</strong>to two ma<strong>in</strong> parts: First we look at the hygienic quality atlow temperatures (i.e.15°C <strong>an</strong>d 30°C) <strong>in</strong> four Europe<strong>an</strong> countries: Spa<strong>in</strong>,Greece, Norway <strong>an</strong>d the Netherl<strong>an</strong>ds. Secondly s<strong>in</strong>ce no accurate method forassess<strong>in</strong>g launder<strong>in</strong>g hygiene <strong>in</strong> a real life situation exists, development <strong>of</strong> atest<strong>in</strong>g method to assess the hygiene effects <strong>of</strong> the wash<strong>in</strong>g process for st<strong>an</strong>dardisationpurposes is presented.
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