1 .1
W h a t i s ATP?
Adenosine Triphosphat e (ATP) is an
organic m olecule that is used by living
cells as the m ain source of energy .
Anim al, plant, bact erial, yeast, and m old
cells produce and br eak down ATP in order
to drive a num ber of biological processes.
I t is the m ain energy- transfer m olecule in
the cell. The presence of ATP on a surface indicates t hat t he surface
has not been adequat ely cleaned and has t he pot ent ial t o har bor and
support bact erial growt h. The r esidue m ay also contain hazardous
m ater ial including pot ent ial allergens. Therefore, ATP is an ideal
indicator of surface cleanliness.
1 .2
Ho w Do e s t h e Lu m in om et er W o r k ?
The lum inom et er det ects ATP using a chem ical react ion.
Luciferin/ Luciferase + ATP = Light
A sam ple is collect ed using a Hygiena ATP device ( see section 1.4).
Surface t est s com e with a buffer m oist ened swab bud that aids in t he
rem oval of any biological m aterial (ATP) on eit her a wet or dry
surface. Once t he sam ple is collect ed and exposed to the chem ist r y
(buffer ) in the Hygiena device, t he ATP contained inside the collect ed
cells will be released. ATP released from inside these cells, along wit h
any free ATP picked up from t he surface by t he sw ab, is now av ailable
to react wit h t he chem istr y in t he bulb of the device. When t he
Luciferin/ Luciferase enzym es are exposed to ATP, light is produced.
The light is detect ed and m easured by t he lum inom eter. The am ount
of light detect ed is direct ly proport ional t o t he quant it y of ATP
collect ed and accordingly is propor t ional t o t he am ount of residue in
the test ed sam ple. The higher the reading, the higher the am ount of
cont am inat ion in the sam ple.
1 .3
W h a t i s an RLU?
The lum inom et er displays result s in Relat iv e Light Unit (RLU) values.
The light produced from the Luciferin/ Luciferase and ATP react ion in
the swab is em it t ed in the form of phot ons. A phot on is an elem entary
par t icle and t he basic unit of light . The lum inom eter det ect s these
photons and displays them direct ly as RLU values. The m ore light
det ected by t he lum inom eter, t he great er the RLU value. The
quant it at ive RLU reading is then com pared against user
progr am m able thresholds to prov ide an overall qualitative pass ,
caut ion or fail result .
The lum inom et er detect s tot al ATP, not j ust ATP from bacteria, yeast,
and m old but also t he ATP from any thing organic in t he sam ple.
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