ATP swab test for water | Lucipac A3 Water Kikkoman 60365

LuciPac A3 Water is a kit for testing the cleanliness of water and other liquid samples using bioluminescence with firefly luciferase developed with Kikkoman's unique biotechnology.

1. Applications of the Lucipac A3 Water swab

- This kit can be used to test the cleanliness of water and other liquid samples.
Do not use this device for any purpose other than testing cleanliness. Please note that this kit cannot be used to test or measure the level of viable bacteria or of more specific pathogenic bacteria.
- This kit will not provide any guarantee that a given test sample is free of bacteria. This kit is not suitable for microbiological testing of beverages that are initially rich in ATP, such as fruit jams.

2. Measurement principle of the Lucipac A3 Water swab

- This swab uses the enzyme cycling method based on the combination of luminescent reactions from firefly luciferase, pyruvate, orthophosphate dikinase (PPDK) and pyruvate kinase (PK). This method produces a certain amount of luminescent substance proportional to the amount of adenosine triphosphate (ATP), adenosine diphosphate (ADP) and adenosine monophosphate (AMP) present.
- ATP is an energy source required by the various life forms present in organic residue, such as microorganisms, food debris and biological substances originating from other living organisms. The ATP monitoring device Lumitester Smart allows you to measure and detect organic residue with high speed and high sensitivity by detecting ATP with luciferase, which is why it is widely used to determine cleanliness levels at food production sites and in medical treatment facilities and hospitals. However, a conventional ATP monitoring system is not enough because the ADP and AMP produced by the breakdown of ATP are completely ignored. Kikkoman has successfully developed a new ATP + ADP + AMP monitoring system as shown in Figure 1. This method certainly allows highly sensitive analysis of a wider range of organic residues.

3. Packaging

The LuciPac A3 Water kit contains 5 aluminium pouches, each holding 20 sampling swabs (100 sampling swabs in total). This kit is a simple integrated test device that contains both the test reagent and the sampling swab needed to test the cleanliness of water and other liquid samples.

4. Precautions for using the ATP Lucipac A3 Water swab

Make sure to follow the precautions listed below to obtain optimum performance from this test swab.
① Do not use a product whose expiry date has passed. Expired products may not give accurate results (the expiry date is printed on the bottom of the aluminium pouch holding the swab sticks).
② Make sure to use only the specified products when measuring luminescence. This set of swabs cannot be used with products that are not specified.
③ The swabs must be brought to room temperature (see Table 2) before testing if they are taken from cold storage. Measured values may be lower than the actual value if the swab sticks are used while still cold. Use the test swabs as soon as possible once they have returned to room temperature. Do not leave the kit outdoors at temperatures above 35°C (95°F). High temperatures may reduce the performance of the product.

Temperature compensation is performed in accordance with the thermometer whose measured value is built into the main body of the Lumitester PD-30. Therefore, compensation cannot be performed accurately if the temporary temperature of the main body of the PD-30/Smart differs from that of the LuciPac. Please make sure that the temperature of the main body of the PD-30/Smart and that of the LuciPac are the same before use.

④ Whenever possible, make sure to use all the sampling swabs from an opened pouch at the same time. If the remaining sampling swabs must be stored after the test session is finished, close the aluminium pouch tightly and store it in a refrigerated environment (2°C to 8°C (35.6°F to 46.4°F)). High temperatures may reduce the performance of the product.
⑤ Do not expose the kit or any part of the kit to direct sunlight for long periods. Strong light may reduce the performance of the product.
⑥ Do not touch any part inside the sampling swab, especially do not touch any part of the sampling device that sticks to your fingers or another object before use. Touching the parts can affect the level of cleanliness, making it difficult to determine.
⑦ Do not drop the set or any of its parts or let any part receive a strong impact or shock. The inner aluminium sheets and other parts in the product set may be damaged, reducing the performance of the product.
⑧ Do not use the kit if any part is damaged, such as the inner aluminium sheets. Such damage may affect the performance of the product, so that the level of cleanliness is not measured accurately. You can tell whether the aluminium sheet is damaged by checking whether the release reagent has leaked.
⑨ Do not immerse more than 3 cm from the tip of the sampling swab in water or other liquid samples. Water or other liquid samples wetting the shaft of the sampling swab may affect the test result.
⑩ Hold the tube of the LuciPac firmly to make sure that it does not move or shift. It may be difficult to determine the level of cleanliness accurately if the reagent starts to leak because the tube has shifted. It may be difficult to detach the LuciPac from the measuring device once the measurements have been taken. Moreover, it may cause a malfunction of the measuring device.

5. Disposal of the ATP swab after measurement

- This set of test swabs does not contain hazardous material. This test swab can be disposed of as ordinary waste, but when disposing of it, it is better to separate the parts and throw each part away properly in accordance with local regulations issued by the local authority for the proper treatment of waste.
- The main materials and parts used in this set are listed below. No PVC material was used to make the plastic in this kit.

6. Precautions for handling

① Be careful not to let the reagent or other substances in the swab get into your mouth, eyes or bare hands before or after use. Rinse your mouth thoroughly with water if any substance gets into your mouth, wash the skin with plenty of water if it gets on the skin, and rinse the affected eye thoroughly with plenty of water if the substance gets into the eye. Contact a doctor immediately for advice and follow their instructions.
② Be careful when storing and disposing of the swabs and reagent to make sure that no substance gets mixed into food and other products.
③ Be careful not to catch your fingers when inserting the swab stick into the main body (housing).
④ Make sure to store this kit and its parts out of the reach of small children.
⑤ Note that the release reagent used in this swab contains a cationic surfactant (benzalkonium chloride *3)). Take care when disposing of this swab after use to make sure that such substances do not get mixed into food products at food production centres and similar facilities.

*3) Benzalkonium chloride is a disinfectant and antiseptic commonly used in hand and finger disinfectant solutions.

7. Storage of the ATP Lucipac A3 Water swab

- Swab storage: The swabs must be stored at low temperature (2°C to 8°C (35.6°F to 46.4°F)) for long-term storage. The swabs can be stored below 25°C (77°F) for up to 14 days or below 30°C (86°F) for up to 5 days before opening the aluminium pouch without any adverse effect on long-term stability. Do not freeze the swabs.
- We recommend using all 20 swab sticks in a pouch at the same time after opening the aluminium pouch. If you have remaining swab sticks that you must store after opening the pouch, remember to store them at the recommended low temperature (2°C to 8°C (35.6°F to 46.4°F)) and use them within two weeks of the pouch being opened.
- Expiry date: printed on the aluminium pouch.