Accelerated Aging
Accelerated aging is used to pre-condition products prior to the introduction of microbes during standardized testing and is often used for concrete, plastics, textiles, personal care products, and for materials where exposure to environmental conditions may affect the efficacy of an antimicrobial additive.
The lab uses a range of accelerated aging tests to approximate actual conditions the material or product may experience when used as intended. Exposure to heat, UV, excessive hydration, water mist, and water leaching can affect how well an application may work. Its an important consideration especially for many surface applications.
Exposure to different conditions like water and heat are many times inevitable; it can occur during distribution and transportation or simply during a product’s storage or shelf life.
Aging a sample prior to a standardized test like ISO 22196 or MIL-STD 810G simulates conditions similar to its intended environment in order to acquire data on the actual performance of the product when it is exposed to different environmental conditions. Comparisons can then be made between its expected performance that may have been very carefully formulated and its actual performance once exposed to such conditions like heat or UV light.
Benefits of Accelerated Aging
It’s one thing for a product to ‘pass’ a test in a stable environment; however, if the product is intended for use in water, has it actually been tested in water?
It is important to ask and answer these questions during testing, both of which can be vital to product development and can help determine a product’s overall performance while used as intended.
Accelerated aging is commonly requested by customers that want to evaluate their product’s performance at different stages during use. A common approach to product development is testing a formulation’s performance before and after the aging process. Testing parameters can be customized based on customer requirements and product expectations.
Situ Biosciences has the scientific expertise to design in situ test conditions to see how an antimicrobial application may work when under stress and in actual use conditions.
Contact our Analytical laboratory at 847-483-9950 or info@situtest.com for more information on Accelerated Aging.