Being predominantly water-based, wet wipes are vulnerable to microbial growth. The need for microbial control in the manufacturing of wet wipes and related products is therefore crucial in this industry. But how exactly?

As a common-sense plan for any manufacturer to control contamination in wet wipes products, apart from regular cleaning and disinfection, it is necessary to have specialized testing facilities in place and ensure that the manufacturing environment as well as raw materials, equipment and personnel involved in the production operation comply with microbiological control requirements. American Hygienics Corporation (AHC), one of the leading manufacturers of wet wipes in Asia, is certainly no exception and shows us what a world-class modern microbiology lab is capable of. 

Each of AHC's two plants, located in Shanghai and Pinghu respectively, owns a modern microbiology laboratory. Entering the world behind contamination control for wet wipes products, you will find that each laboratory has a class 10,000 Microbial Limit Test room and a class 10,000 Positive Control room, where a class 100 ISO 5 biosafety cabinet is available. Other isolated facilities inside the laboratory include the Microbial Challenge Test room, Preparation Room, etc.

"The microbial limit test, for example, is performed to assess how many and which of certain viable microorganisms are present in non-sterile samples that range from raw materials to finished products. "said group CEO Nilesh Parmar.

"Our finished products are tested in the microbiology laboratory for microbial limit and pathogenic bacteria in accordance with GB 15979' Hygienic standard for disposable sanitary products', United States Pharmacopoeia (USP) and other standards. The laboratory is also responsible for the daily inspection of production water and sampling inspection for incoming raw materials like non-wovens in accordance with Chinese Pharmacopoeia and USP," added Nilesh Parmar.