Antimicrobial vs. Biocide - Staying Safe with Dollamur
Dollamur Sport Surfaces (“Dollamur”) is one of the leading sport surface manufacturers in the world and we built that distinction by providing high-quality products and innovative technology that supports the health and safety of athletes. It is very important to us that once you have received your mats, our sports mats serve you and your students in the best way possible from both a performance and safety standpoint.
For our products to perform above and beyond your expectations, Dollamur made several recent technological advances in our mats, starting with the production of the vinyl mat surface. In recent years there has been a key initiative in the healthcare industry to move away from the use of antimicrobials and replace these with a biocidal additive.
This change arose from concerns in the rise of antibiotic resistance by various mechanisms, according to the World Health Organization in 2007. Resistance against antibiotics by bacteria is a major concern in the anti-infective therapy of humans. Bacteria will adapt rapidly to new environmental conditions, such as the presence of antimicrobial molecules, and, as a consequence, resistance only continues to increase (Falagas and Bliziotis 2007).
According to the Directive 98/8/EC of the European Parliament and Council, biocidal products are defined as: “Active substances and preparations containing one or more active substances, put up in the form in which they are supplied to the user, intended to destroy, render harmless, prevent the action of, or otherwise exert a controlling effect on any harmful organism by chemical or biological means.”
Instead of utilizing an antimicrobial additive in the vinyl surface of our sport mats, Dollamur infuses a biocidal additive which is registered with the EPA under FIFRA. Rather than focusing only on treating surface microbes, biocides protect Dollamur sports mats by eliminating potential microorganisms within the vinyl surface itself.
As a second initiative to compliment the mats’ biocidal surface, Dollamur offers Mat Attack!™ Athletic Surface Cleaner. Mat Attack!™ by Dollamur is a cleaner, disinfectant, fungicide, mildew stat and virucide that will kill microorganisms such as MRSA and is confirmed by the EPA to kill human coronavirus (reg. 10324- 93) on hard, non-porous surfaces when used properly. This highly concentrated surface cleaner protects athletes and the health of your facility.
From competition mats to home training mats, Dollamur is always researching the best ways to help athletes of all levels to stay safe and healthy – trust our mats and our mat cleaner to do just that!