These procedures should be used to test topical antimicrobial-containing preparations that are intended to be fast-acting and to reduce significantly the number of organisms on intact skin immediately and, for preoperative and precatheterization preparations, to maintain reductions for an extended time.

1.1 The test method is designed to measure the reduction of the resident microbial flora of the skin.

1.2 A knowledge of microbiological techniques is required for these procedures.

1.3 In this test method, metric units are used for all applications except for linear measure, in which case inches are used, and metric units follow in parentheses.

1.4 This standard does not purport to address all of the safety problems, if any, associated with its use. It is the responsibility of the user of this standard to establish appropriate safety and health practices and determine the applicability of regulatory limitations prior to use.

1.5 Performance of this procedure requires a knowledge of regulations pertaining to the protection of human subjects (1).