ATP testing in COVID-19 analysis by Skytrax

Skytrax COVID-19 Safety Rating is the world’s only assessment and certification of airport, airline and airline lounge health and safety measures during the coronavirus pandemic that is based on professional and scientific investigation of the actual standards being provided by airports and airlines. As part of the safety rating evaluation, ATP testing is used where possible to measure surface contamination across the high touch areas, both in the airport and onboard environment.

COVID-19 Rating: seatbelt buckle and lounge table ATP testing

Contact surface areas are tested using the Hygiena EnSURE Touch and UltraSnap Surface ATP swabs. The purpose of these tests is to analyse any variance in surface contamination levels.

The ATP test results use 3 bands to quantify hygiene levels in the Skytrax analysis: Pass, Caution and Fail.

COVID-19 Rating: elevator buttons and washroom ATP testing

ATP systems do not detect viruses directly. However, COVID-19 infected material that contains biological residues will be detected by an ATP system. While other methods exist for evaluating cleanliness, ATP bioluminescence is the only method that combines quantitative data collection with scientific measurement and still delivers speedy results.

How ATP Cleaning Verification works

Cleaning verification products can tell in as little as 10 seconds if a surface has been cleaned properly using ATP.

ATP is an energy molecule found in all plant, animal and microbial cells. It fuels metabolic processes such as cellular reproduction, muscle contraction, plant photosynthesis, respiration in fungi, and fermentation in yeast. All organic matter (living or once-living) contains ATP, including food, bacteria, mold and other microorganisms.

The Hygiena™ ATP testing devices used by Skytrax contain a natural enzyme found in fireflies. This enzyme, called luciferase, produces a simple bioluminescence (lightproducing) reaction when it comes into contact with ATP. Using bioluminescence technology, the ATP Meters can measure extremely low levels of ATP collected with testing devices.

Measuring the amount of bioluminescence from an ATP reaction provides an excellent indication of surface cleanliness because the quantity of light generated by the reaction is directly proportional to the amount of ATP present in the sample.