Study of resistance to biocides (product types 3 and 4)

The FPS Public Health attaches great importance to antimicrobial resistance (AMR, antimicrobial resistance), a major public health problem for which a National Action Plan (NAP AMR) has been in place since 2021.

On the initiative of the FPS Public Health, a research project in this field, led by Sciensano, was launched in 2022. The goal of this project is to understand and assess the likelihood of the development of resistance to biocides for veterinary hygiene (product type 3 - PT3) and in the food and feed production chain (product type 4 - PT4). This study is a follow-up to a literature review previously conducted by the De Duve Institute on hand disinfectants (product type 1 - PT1) and surface disinfectants (product type 2 - PT2).

Literature review

The goal of the first part of the project is to examine the current state of knowledge on the development of resistance following the use of biocides in the veterinary and agri-food sectors.

The literature review identified active substances more likely to cause antimicrobial resistance. It also pointed out that there is a significant lack of studies under real-world conditions and a need to standardise methods for characterising bacterial resistance.

Resistance monitoring

The second part of the project is currently underway. It has defined standardised tests to evaluate resistance of bacteria to biocides (TP3 - TP4) and possible co-resistance to antibiotics in samples of human, animal, and food origin. The substances tested were selected based on the findings of the literature review (active substances and commercial products). The genome of the bacteria (for which resistance was observed) will also be completely sequenced. The project is scheduled to be completed in December 2025.

Outlook

The results of this study will provide recommendations for building a long-term system for monitoring bacterial resistance or tolerance to biocides, and for the co-selection of antibiotics.

These results will also answer the needs identified in the environmental section of the BELMAP report, particularly the need for a better understanding of the risks associated with the use of biocides responsible for the development of resistance in micro-organisms. The results will be used to help develop guidelines on improving the use of biocides.