Paint Formulated with Corning® Guardiant® Antimicrobial Additive Demonstrated in Laboratory Testing to Kill 99.9% of COVID-19 Virus within Two Hours
Corning is working with leading paint companies across the globe to introduce products containing Corning® Guardiant®. Prior to making claims against harmful germs in the U.S., finished products incorporating Guardiant must first be registered with EPA.
As the world continues to deal with the coronavirus pandemic, the importance of antimicrobial surfaces is clearer than ever. Unclean surfaces can contribute to the spread of disease and infection, and conventional sanitation methods don’t last.1 Corning® Guardiant® is a new copper based antimicrobial additive for paints that can be used to effectively preserve paint at lower dosages, and at higher dosages, has been shown in lab tests to continuously kill 99.9% of germs on dry surfaces, including SARS-CoV-2, the virus responsible for COVID-19 as well as hard-to-kill non-enveloped viruses such as the Norovirus.
The COVID-19 virus and other pathogens can live on contaminated surfaces for days.2 In its October 14th announcement, the EPA recognized the need for surfaces with long-lasting germ-killing properties.3 “EPA is providing an expedited path for our nation’s manufacturers and innovators to get cutting-edge, long-lasting disinfecting products into the marketplace as safely and quickly as possible,” said EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler. “As we continue to re-open our schools, workplaces, and other public spaces, it is important Americans have as many tools as possible to slow the spread of COVID-19.”
Guardiant utilizes copper, one of nature’s most effective antimicrobial materials, by harnessing and stabilizing it in its most bioactive ionic form inside Corning’s innovative glass matrix composition. The glass is milled into fine particles that keep the most effective form of copper readily available for reducing harmful germs throughout the life of the paint.
A key distinguishing characteristic of coatings formulated with Guardiant is their ability to be effective under test conditions that simulate realistic contamination, which is dry and invisible. The test protocols described by the EPA for products hoping to enter this category are designed to simulate in-use conditions for exposure – typical ambient temperatures (22°C) and humidity (30-40%) and dry microbial contamination. These test conditions pose a challenge for many traditional biocides including silver additives that require moisture and elevated temperature to be effective.4
In addition to the SARS-CoV-2 results, Corning has also published peer-reviewed research on the technology behind Corning Guardiant. The published results demonstrated kill of other bacteria and viruses with greater than 99.9% efficacy in under two hours, including gram positive bacteria (such as Staphylococcus aureus), gram negative bacteria (such as Pseudomonas aeruginosa), and non-enveloped viruses (such as murine norovirus, which belongs to the hardest-to-kill class of viruses in terms of their susceptibility to disinfectants).5 Furthermore, paints including Guardiant were shown to retain their antimicrobial efficacy through several years of simulated use.5 Scientific literature suggests that biocides based on quarternary ammonium compounds (“quats”), when incorporated into coatings, are less effective against non-enveloped viruses.6-9
Corning is currently collaborating with leading paint and coating manufacturers around the world to develop products containing Guardiant that meet government and regulatory requirements. In the U.S., prior to making claims against harmful germs such as SARS-CoV-2, finished products incorporating Guardiant must first be registered with the EPA.
References
1 Lei, H., Li, Y., Xiao, S. et al. Logistic growth of a surface contamination network and its role in disease spread. Sci Rep 7, 14826 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-017-13840-z
2 van Doremalen, N., Bushmaker, T., Morris, D.H., Holbrook, M.G., Gamble, A., Williamson, B.N., Tamin, A., Harcourt, J.L., Thornburg, N.J., Gerber, S.I., Lloyd-Smith, J.O., de Wit, E., Munster, V.J. Aerosol and surface stability of HCoV-19 (SARS-CoV-2) compared to SARS-CoV-1. N Engl J Med. 2020 Mar 17. doi: 10.1056/NEJMc2004973. [Epub ahead of print]. PMID: 32182409.
4 Michels, H T et al. Effects of temperature and humidity on the efficacy of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus challenged antimicrobial materials containing silver and copper. Letters in Applied Microbiology vol. 49,2 (2009)
5 Gross, T.M., Lahiri, J., Golas, A. et al. Copper-containing glass ceramic with high antimicrobial efficacy. Nat Commun 10, 1979 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-019-09946-9
6 G. McDonell. Quaternary Ammonium Compounds. Encyclopedia of Microbiology, 3rd Ed. (2009)
