The benefits of Krion® K·Life in hospital atmospheres

21/12/2021

Although any area that people come into contact with must meet certain hygiene and safety conditions for the user, there are certain places where cleanliness levels must be extreme.

We are talking about healthcare environments, where every detail that can influence the hygiene of a space counts. Be it clinics, hospitals, medical consultations or cosmetic centres, healthcare environments require materials, tools and protocols that ensure an environment free of bacteria and pollutants.

A good choice of materials is essential for preventing the spread of pathogens, such as viruses and bacteria, especially now that we are living with the COVID-19 pandemic. It is a need and a responsibility of architects, entrepreneurs and designers to generate environments that are safe for people who are going to  use the hospital or other health facilities.

As a result of the need to find materials that are beneficial to health-related environments, various studies have been carried out to understand the behaviour of viruses on a Krion surface. The prestigious architecture, engineering and hospital management portal Hospitecnia has published an article about Krion® K·Life 1100 and how the material creates better hospital environments.

The benefits of Krion®  K·Life in Healthcare spaces

As a primary requirement for use in healthcare spaces, any material must have a series of certificates issued by independent bodies that guarantee the safety of the facilities and the users.

KRION has numerous health and safety certificates, including: REACH, GREENGUARD, A +, EPD, BPA FREE, as well as two certificates that give us the category of healthy product, HPD (Health Product Declaration ) and DECLARE. 

• REACH: This is a European compliance record and assessment, the purpose of which is to improve the protection of the environment and human health against all risks that may arise due to the use of certain potentially dangerous chemicals in materials.
• GREENGUARD GOLD and A+: This certificate guarantees that a product has been designed for indoor spaces and that it complies with strict limits on chemical emissions (VOCs) for more than 10,000 chemicals, being safe for hospital or school environments.
• DECLARE and HPDs: Thisis a transparency certification that mainly shows the ingredients of materials to verify their safety level for both the health of people and the environment.
• EPD: This isa type III eco-label that is based on the life cycle analysis to assess the environmental impact of a product.

In addition to certifications that guarantee the safety of this material, these are some of the advantages of Krion® K·Life for the healthcare sector highlighted by professionals:

• Easy cleaning: With almost zero porosity, Krion® does not allow dirt and pollutants to penetrate the material. Its imperceptible joints also assist cleaning, as there are no hard-to-reach corners where germs can accumulate.
• Resistance to chemical agents: Health spaces must absolutely ensure that the hygiene of the place is thorough. Therefore, aggressive compositions are often used to disinfect and kill bacteria. Krion® is resistant to these types of materials, ensuring the integrity of the surface and its durability.
• Customisation capacity: It adapts perfectly to the designs of healthcare centres to guarantee the health and well-being of users. The thermocurving property contained in our solid surface, helps to adapt it to the environment under the established professional requirements. A functional environment must go hand in hand with an aesthetic and friendly environment that works with patient care.
• Zero porosity: This capacity has been tested using different methods or water absorption tests. KRION has been introduced into ambient water and boiling water and the amount of absorbed water has been analysed. The result has always been 0.07% of the water absorbed, i.e. practically zero porosity.
• Asepsis: The surface is aseptic and very easy to clean thanks to its zero absorption. KRION's aseptic quality is accredited by trials such as Wear & Cleanability CSA & IAMPO. It also holds the NEMA LD3, ISO 19712 and UNE 56867 certifications, which guarantee its resistance to stains and chemical agents.
• Bacteriostatic capacity: Several studies have been conducted based on ASTM G-22, ASTM G-21 and ASTM Standard D6329 and all have yielded positive results: Krion® prevents the growth and spread of pathogenic microorganisms, such as bacteria or fungi.

Krion® K·Life's solid surface combines some of the properties most valued by customers; being able to improve the quality of the environment, which is fundamental in healthcare environments.