The Science Behind Neogen’s AccuPoint ® Advanced ATP Hygiene Monitoring System

Adenosine triphosphate (ATP) is a chemical produced in all living cells. Its presence on a surface is an indication of organic contamination.
That contamination can come from human contact, bacterial presence or some other form of organic residue. The amount of ATP
remaining on a cleaned surface is a direct indication of the effectiveness of a cleaning method.
In a health care setting, people touch surfaces and in the process either add to or pick up the organic residue which can include
pathogenic microbes such as Clostridium difficile, MRSA, or any number of environmentally transferred organisms. For this reason,
measuring ATP levels on high-touch patient surfaces and surgical equipment has become the standard for health care facilities in
determining cleanliness levels.
When ATP is collected from a surface and combined with two
chemicals contained in Neogen’s AccuPoint Advanced Samplers,
The AccuPoint Advanced Sampler Luciferin and Luciferase, a chemiluminescent reaction occurs. This
reaction produces light in the same way as fireflies.
The amount of light produced in the reaction is directly proportional
to the amount of ATP collected from the surface.

Luciferin / Luciferase + ATP =

The light is measured by the AccuPoint Advanced luminometer and
reported as relative light units (RLUs).

ATP is collected on
the sample pad

ATP collected on the sample pad

combines with the reagents
Luciferase and luciferin and a chemiluminescent
reaction begins

800-234-5333 (USA /Canada) or 517-372-9200

AccuPointHC@neogen.com • www.neogen.com
What ATP systems can’t do
ATP systems are not designed for differentiating
between specific hospital associated infections.

ATP results do not correlate with microbial counts

It is a common misconception that results received from ATP testing systems in RLU
should correlate with a microbial total plate count result for the same sample. There are a
number of reasons why this may not be true.
The amount of ATP in microbial cells can vary dramatically and a single CFU can actually
be composed of one or more cells. Microbes also need food to grow and will seldom be
present on a surface alone. They will most often exist within a pool of organic material
comprised of many cells all of which may contain ATP. Since there is no way of differentiating
the ATP from a pathogenic organism like C. diff and the skin cells that have been shed
from a visitor’s fingers, RLU scores may consist of a small amount of bacterial ATP one day
and a large amount the next.

So why use an ATP monitoring system?

While ATP systems are not direct indicators of bacterial presence, they are the
fastest and most convenient method for determining the potential for these
organisms to exist on patient contact surfaces and equipment. There is no faster
or easier way to know that you could have a problem or that certain areas
require a more rigorous cleaning than to use a system that allows you to correct
issues before they become serious problems.
Properly utilized sanitation monitoring systems allow for the quick and easy
detection and measurement of ATP on high-touch patient surfaces and surgical
equipment which provides an objective, actionable tool for the monitoring of a
facility’s sanitation efforts.

Contact the Neogen Healthcare Sales Team

at 800-234-5333 for more information.

800-234-5333 (USA/Canada) • 517-372-9200

AccuPointHC@neogen.com • www.neogen.com

©Neogen Corporation, 2018. AccuPoint and Neogen are registered trademarks of Neogen Corporation, Lansing, MI. FD698-0818