TABLE OF CONTENTS The biggest customers for biocides are outside the plastics industry, which actually accounts for only a very small fraction of all the biocides used. According to the Biocide Information Service, the most important single antimicrobial application in plastics is PVC flooring which uses more than a third of all the biocides incorporated in plastics products. The second most important application is the protection of hygienic surfaces such as worktops. Smaller amounts are used in PVC pool liners, floorcoverings, artificial leather, tarpaulins and tents. Other outlets include rubbish sacks, food packaging and footwear. In Japan, antimicrobials are used in telephone hand sets (one of the commonest sites of infection) and in pens. There are growing markets for biocides in medical devices and wood plastics composites.
The original purpose of antimicrobial additives in plastics was to protect the materials, not the users. This applied especially to flexible PVC which needs protection in moist atmospheres from mildew, moulds and fungi. The situation has changed considerably in the last five years, with more use being made of antimicrobial products designed to promote a hygienic image for the product, to protect surfaces and to reassure human users of bathroom, medical and food related products.
CEFIC has estimated that 60% of all the active biocidal ingredients used in all materials in the EU are likely to be withdrawn within three years because of the Biocidal Products Directive. With registration of a new active ingredient costing 5 M euros and the whole process...
