The era of Covid-19 made all of us more sensitive to sickness-causing pathogens. While we may have moved on from wiping down our groceries with bleach, we’re washing our hands more frequently. And many of us still habitually grab a mask on our way out the door. Unfortunately, when it comes to preventing the growth and spread of bacteria, many of us forget the devices that we touch throughout the day. To give you peace of mind as you use your laptop, ASUS Antibacterial Guard works invisibly to inhibit the growth of potentially dangerous bacteria.*
You might be surprised to learn where the highest concentrations of bacteria lurk in a typical household. So accustomed to seeing our laptop as our portal to the exterior world of work and friends, we sometimes forget how much time we spend with our hands on it. But how often do we remember to clean it? ASUS Antibacterial Guard puts that worry to rest with a special treatment on all the notebook parts that users touch most frequently, including the keyboard, touchpad, palm rest area, and fingerprint sensor. For 2022, you’ll find Antibacterial Guard across a wide range of Zenbook and Vivobook laptops.
Antibacterial Guard protects your home’s most vulnerable surfaces
In the old days, the local news regularly warned viewers about everyday threats. One of their favorites was the common kitchen sponge used to wash dishes and wipe countertops. These sponges held the most bacteria of any household object—more than refrigerator doors, toothbrushes, or even toilet bowls. Today, however, the kitchen sponge’s reputation as a hidden hazard has a potential challenger in the humble laptop.
Consider a startling data point. The typical notebook’s keyboard contains 20,000 times more bacteria than a toilet seat.** If that surprises you, remember that surface bacteria picked up by our hands naturally accumulate in the places we touch most. Recollect as well that the hours we spend lost in thought over keyboards are simultaneously spent breathing, coughing, or even sneezing. Even a single airborne droplet can contain health hazards, yet most laptops lack basic protections against bacteria.
Our Antibacterial Guard forestalls the growth of microbial pests with a silver-ion coating. The silver ions’ positive charge draws the microbes’ negative charge the same way a kitchen magnet sticks to your refrigerator. Upon contact, the silver ions pierce the surface of the bacterial cells, scrambling their structure and preventing them from reproducing. Scientific tests show that the Antibacterial Guard inhibits the growth of bacteria on plastics and other non-porous surfaces by more than 99%.
Antibacterial Guard meets laboratory standards
To ensure the effectiveness of the treatment, an independent lab tested it according to strict ISO 22196 standards. Laboratory scientists pitted Antibacterial Guard against two of the most common household bacteria, Escherichia coli (E. coli) and Staphylococcus aureus, or “staph.” These bacteria are responsible for several common ailments that disrupt daily life—you won’t find worse roommates than these two bacteria.
Scientists tested the growth potential of these common household bacteria with and without ASUS Antibacterial Guard. After a 24-hour incubation period in a warm environment, the number of bacteria on untreated surfaces nearly tripled from 10,000 to 28,000. In that same period, treated surfaces limited bacterial growth to less than sixteen. That difference in bacterial growth exceeds 99%. More importantly, the two tested bacteria behave exactly the same as thousands of other bacteria. In other words, you can expect Antibacterial Guard to have its 99% inhibiting effect on almost all known bacterial threats.
Antibacterial Guard doesn’t just stand up to harmful bacteria. It also resists common household cleaning products, which do not easily wear down the silver-ion surface treatment. You can have peace of mind as you wipe up dust and debris, as Antibacterial Guard is rated to endure at least three years of normal usage.
We’ve guarded the whole line
Whenever you sit down to a three-hour work session at your laptop, a lot goes through your mind. As you finally close the lid on another completed project, you can easily forget that your fingers just spent hours on a surface that carries considerable potential to spread germs. And while working, how often did you unthinkingly touch your face, chin, or even lips and mouth?
Risks like these multiply if there are others in your household using your laptop. Does your partner log onto the notebook as well? How frequently do children play games on the device? How careful are these people about washing their hands or scrubbing sticky fingers before booting it up? ASUS Antibacterial Guard protects all of you by stopping the masses of microbes on your laptop from reproducing in the first place.
Every little bit of protection helps. ASUS has treated the whole range of Zenbook and Vivobook laptops in 2022 with Antibacterial Guard in order to provide protection that lasts at least three full years. If you’d like one less health concern to worry about, or if you’re looking to go the extra mile in caring for the family by keeping a shared computer clean, then click here to find a laptop that meets your needs.
*Tested by an independent third-party laboratory according to the ISO 22196 standard (Measurement of antibacterial activity on plastics and other non-porous surfaces). ISO 22196:2011 specifies a method of evaluating the antibacterial activity of antibacterial-treated plastics, and other non-porous, surfaces of products (including intermediate products). ASUS Antibacterial Guard is applied on the laptop areas that users touch most frequently, including the palm rest area, keyboard, and touchpad (or ASUS NumberPad).
**Testing done by EMLab P&K, Team Nuggets. “Bytes and Bacteria: Exposing the Germs on your Technology”, CBT Nuggets, October 13, 2016: https://www.cbtnuggets.com/blog/career/career-progression/bytes-and-bacteria-exposing-the-germs-on-your-technology
*** Note that the protective effects of ASUS Antibacterial Guard were tested by ASUS on April 26, 2021, and follow the ISO 22196 method on our specially-treated test samples. The tests provide a simulation of three years of wear and tear, and include exposure to salt spray, thermal shocks, and both alcohol and wool-felt tests. Actual effective antibacterial-protection period may vary depending on product configuration and usage.