Wilmington, Mass—Altro said it has signed the Antimicrobials Joint Statement petition by Mindful Materials in support of its mission to uphold and encourage evidence-based approaches to protect human health.
Recent developments in viral pathogens and public health concerns have generated a significant new demand for antimicrobial products, the company said. For the building products industry, the new demand has led to an increase in requests for materials with added antimicrobials to be incorporated in design. Furthermore, according to the company, no building products with added antimicrobials have been shown to benefit infection control outside of limited studies on copper. In fact, many of the additives can cause more harm than good, unintentionally causing viral mutations and antimicrobial resistance over time, Altro added.
Adding antimicrobials to the built environment comes with known costs as well as unproven benefits, the company said. In conjunction with Mindful Materials, Altro said it supports architects, designers and end users in making appropriate, evidence-based choices to protect public health.
Altro added that the responsible approach is to manufacture its products without the use of antimicrobial additives. The manufacturer said it first removed such ingredients from its flooring ranges back in 2013.
As signatories of Mindful Materials’ antimicrobial petition, Altro said it stands with the following concepts regarding the transparency of floor and wall products:
- Truth in advertising
- Product content disclosure
- Assessment of chemicals
- Public health research
- Ecosystem health research