ISO 21702:2019

Overview

ISO 21702:2019 - Measurement of antiviral activity on plastics and other non-porous surfaces - defines standardized laboratory methods to quantify the antiviral activity of antiviral-treated products such as plastics, coatings, ceramics, leathers, stainless steel and rubbers. The standard describes how to inoculate surfaces with virus, recover and enumerate infectious virus, and express antiviral effectiveness (log reduction of infectivity titer). It emphasizes that results obtained with one test virus may not be directly applicable to other viruses.

Key topics and technical requirements

• Scope and safety: Procedures require trained personnel and appropriate biosafety measures when handling viruses and host cells.
• Materials and reagents: Specifies example viruses (e.g., Influenza A H3N2, feline calicivirus), host cells (MDCK, CRFK), culture media (EMEM, RPMI 1640) and analytical-grade reagents.
• Preparation: Detailed steps for restoring and subculturing host cells, preparing test inocula, and conditioning test specimens.
• Test procedure: Standardized inoculation, contact time, recovery of virus and controls for cytotoxicity and cell sensitivity.
• Virus quantification: Use of plaque assay to determine infectivity titer in plaque-forming units (PFU) and calculation of antiviral activity as the logarithmic difference between treated and untreated surfaces.
• Quality and validity: Criteria for valid tests, repeatability and reproducibility data, and required contents for the test report.
• Annexes: Composition of media and informative reproducibility data are provided to support reproducible lab practice.

Practical applications and users

ISO 21702:2019 is practical for:

• Manufacturers developing antiviral-treated plastics, coatings, medical device surfaces, consumer goods and packaging.
• Contract and independent microbiology testing laboratories performing standardized antiviral surface testing.
• Product development and R&D teams validating antiviral claims and optimizing antiviral agents.
• Regulatory bodies, certification and quality assurance teams that assess antiviral performance claims.

Benefits include consistent, reproducible measurement of antiviral performance, comparability between labs, and a recognized basis for product claims.

Related standards

• ISO 22196 - Measurement of antibacterial activity on non-porous surfaces
• ISO 18184 - Measurement of antiviral activity on textiles (porous products)
• ISO 20743 - Antibacterial activity on textiles

Keywords: ISO 21702:2019, antiviral activity measurement, plastics, non-porous surfaces, plaque assay, infectivity titer, antiviral-treated products, antiviral agent.