JIS L 1902

JIS L 1902 - Antimicrobial Fabric Test

Welcome to Antimicrobial Test Laboratories' JIS L 1902 Test Method Resource Page.

Below, you will find a summary of the JIS L 1902 method, along with some of its strengths and weaknesses. The JIS L 1902 method is designed to quantitatively test the ability of fabrics that have been treated with antimicrobial agents to prevent microbial growth and to kill microorganisms, over a 24 hour period of contact.

Note: The information below is presented for educational purposes only. The current, detailed JIS L 1902 test method can be purchased at (http://webstore.ansi.org/)

Summary of the JIS L 1902 Test:

The test microorganism is prepared by growth in a liquid culture medium.
The suspension of test microorganism is standardized by dilution in a nutritive broth (this affords microorganisms the potential to grow during the test). The level of nutrition present in the nutritive broth is important, and is specified by the method.
Control and test fabrics are inoculated with microorganisms, in triplicate, and then placed in a sealed container in a body-temperature incubator for 18 hours.
Microbial concentrations are determined at "time zero" by elution then dilution and plating.
After incubation, microbial concentrations on are determined. Reduction of microorganisms relative to initial concentrations and the control fabric is calculated.

Strengths of the JIS L 1902 Test:

The method parameters are more carefully spelled out than an alternative antimicrobial fabric method called AATCC 100.
The method is quantitative and results are generally reproducible.
The method tests for both bacteriostatic (growth-inhibiting) and bactericidal (bacteria-killing) properties on a given antimicrobial fabric.
Microbial concentrations are standardized, and bacteria are provided with nutrients during the incubation period, which provides them with ample opportunity to grow if the test fabrics aren't sufficiently antimicrobial.
The method stipulates triplicate experimentation, which helps researchers estimate the precision of the individual tests and increases overall experimental accuracy.
The method includes a "pass/fail" criterion for the calculated levels of antimicrobial activity observed in test samples, making determinations of antimicrobial activity less discretionary.

Weaknesses of the JIS L 1902 Test:

The relationship between product performance in the JIS L 1902 method and "real life" outcomes such as odor inhibition or infection control is not well understood.

Antimicrobial Test Laboratories has a great deal of experience running JIS L 1902 studies for both R&D and claims validation purposes. For more information about the JIS L 1902 test for antimicrobial surfaces, Contact the Lab Today!