Author(s)

Muhammad Tanveer Munir¹, Hélène Pailhories², Matthieu Eveillard², Florence Aviat³, Didier Lepelletier⁴, Christophe Belloncle¹, Michel Federighi^5*

¹Laboratoire Innovation Matériau Bois Habitat Apprentissage (LIMBHA), Ecole Supérieure du Bois, Nantes, France.
²ATOMycA, Inserm Equipe Avenir, Inserm U892, CNRS 6299, Université Bretagne-Loire, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire, Angers cedex, France.
³Your ResearcH-Bio-Scientific, Le Landreau, France.
⁴Laboratoire MiHAR EE 1701 S, Institut de Recherche en Santé 2, Université de Nantes, 22 boulevard Benoni-Goullin, Nantes, France.
⁵UMR INRA 1014 SECALIM, Oniris, route de Gachet, CS 40706, Nantes cedex 03, France.

Wood, as a contact surface, has been used for centuries but is usually questioned because of its porosity and organic composition. It has natural antimicrobial properties and, hygienically, can stand the comparison with other materials such as plastic, glass and steel. In this review, we focused on potential microbe-inhibiting properties of wooden surfaces being used in hygienically important places like health institutes and food industries. This article addresses the questionable properties of untreated wood like hygroscopicity, porosity, roughness and chemical composition, and their relation to the hygienic and antimicrobial nature of this material. The other factors linked to the hygienic properties of wood, such as age, species and type of wood, have also been discussed. Our analysis of literature will create better understanding for acceptance of wood as a safety renewable resource. It also provides an outline for future research considering wood material in critical healthcare or food industries.

Wood, Antimicrobial Characteristics, Physicochemical Properties

Munir, M. , Pailhories, H. , Eveillard, M. , Aviat, F. , Lepelletier, D. , Belloncle, C. and Federighi, M. (2019) Antimicrobial Characteristics of Untreated Wood: Towards a Hygienic Environment. Health, 11, 152-170. doi: 10.4236/health.2019.112014.