The perennial problem of variability in adenosine triphosphate (ATP) tests for hygiene monitoring within healthcare settings

Greg S. Whiteley, Chris Derry, Trevor Glasbey, Paul Fahey

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

    26 Citations (Scopus)

    Abstract

    Objective. To investigate the reliability of commercial ATP bioluminometers and to document precision and variability measurements using known and quantitated standard materials. Methods. Four commercially branded ATP bioluminometers and their consumables were subjected to a series of controlled studies with quantitated materials in multiple repetitions of dilution series. The individual dilutions were applied directly to ATP swabs. To assess precision and reproducibility, each dilution step was tested in triplicate or quadruplicate and the RLU reading from each test point was recorded. Results across the multiple dilution series were normalized using the coefficient of variation. Results. The results for pure ATP and bacterial ATP from suspensions of Staphylococcus epidermidis and Pseudomonas aeruginosa are presented graphically. The data indicate that precision and reproducibility are poor across all brands tested. Standard deviation was as high as 50% of the mean for all brands, and in the field users are not provided any indication of this level of imprecision. Conclusions. The variability of commercial ATP bioluminometers and their consumables is unacceptably high with the current technical configuration. The advantage of speed of response is undermined by instrument imprecision expressed in the numerical scale of relative light units (RLU).
    Original languageEnglish
    Pages (from-to)658-663
    Number of pages6
    JournalInfection Control and Hospital Epidemiology
    Volume36
    Issue number6
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - 2015

    Keywords

    • cleaning
    • hygiene
    • infection control

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