News Archive

Dr. Brill + Partner is expanding its range of tests to include two Taber abrasion tests in accordance with ASTM 4060, which are specifically tailored to the evaluation of marine coatings. In addition to the established dry test, we now offer an advanced Taber abrasion test as a wet test for the first time, which takes into account realistic conditions of use in the maritime sector. 

Taber abrasion test as a wet test 
For the first time, we offer the Taber abrasion test as a wet test with a water-covered test plate. The method, further developed by Dr. Brill + Partner, simulates realistic conditions for underwater cleaning. Comparative studies show that many ship coatings exhibit significantly higher abrasion under wet conditions than in the conventional dry test. The method was presented at the PortPIC conference in 2025 and enables a practical comparison with market products. 

Taber abrasion test as a dry test
The proven Taber abrasion test according to ASTM 4060 as a dry test continues to be ideal for internal comparisons and screening tests of different coating systems. The test is carried out with two replicas in each case.

If you have any questions or are interested in our new testing services, please feel free to contact us. 

A cleaning robot is being developed at the University of Kassel that will be able to clean the hull of a ship while it is sailing. In the LABROID project, this robot platform is being expanded to include two technical components that will make it possible to shorten the cleaning interval to such an extent that commercial ships can completely dispense with biocide-containing paints while still being protected against biofouling.

The first technical component comprises a patented wing system combined with a self-aware control approach. The wing system enables the robot to cover its entire energy requirements from the flow of water around the moving ship. This allows continuous cleaning 24/7. The self-aware approach integrates the wing system into the robot control system and enables autonomous evaluation of the environmental conditions based on the operating parameters. This significantly reduces the risk of failure, enabling reliable protection against fouling.

In the second technical component, computer vision is used to assess the current fouling level so that the robot can independently recognize and learn which areas need to be cleaned and which should no longer be cleaned. Independent assessment of the fouling level is crucial and a unique selling point, as only a biofilm slime layer may be cleaned during operation. The robot must therefore be able to distinguish between the stages "clean", "slime layer", and "macroscopic fouling". Dr. Brill + Partner Institute for Antifouling and Biocorrosion will train the AI as "expert annotators" in this project. To this end, numerous underwater photos will be evaluated and specific fouling plates will be deployed and evaluated in order to obtain and evaluate new underwater photos.

LABROID is inspired by the cleaner fish "Labroides dimidiatus", which uses the flow of water around its host fish to move and rid it of parasites.

Project partner:

• Universität Kassel, Maschinenbau - Intelligent Embedded Systems
• Briese Schiffahrt
• Larabicus

Support measure:

The presentation that Dr. Florian H. H. Brill will give at the 14th International Akademie Fresenius Detergents and Cleaning Products Conference is entitled "Current regulatory developments on hygiene products & microbial cleaners". This presentation will take place during the session "Regulatory implications for hygiene & innovation". The presentation will cover the following topics:

• BPR: Stricter approvals, some actives banned, push for alternatives
• Probiotics: More microbial cleaners, unclear status (biocide/other), safety & claim checks
• Claims & greenwashing: Proof for hygiene claims, stricter green marketing rules

Also, Dr. Britta Brands, Dr. Brill + Prof. Bockmühl GmbH Institute for Applied Hygiene, will give a presentation entitled "Probiotic cleaning: Testing and performance evaluation" in the session "Probiotic cleaning - from concept to market".

The chairperson of the 14th International Fresenius Academy Detergents and Cleaning Products Conference is Professor Dirk Bockmühl. All information about the conference, which will take place on 17-18 September 2026, in Mainz, can be found HERE.

Our colleagues on site would be delighted to welcome you in person in Mainz - and are of course happy to assist you. To arrange an appointment in advance, simply send an email to info@brillhygiene.com.

"Clinical study on the influence of regular use of alcohol-based hand rubs on the skin microbiome" is the title of the poster that Dr. Florian H. H. Brill will present at ESCMID Global 2026 - the Congress of the European Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases. ESCMID Global is the largest international gathering of clinical microbiologists and infectious disease specialists and will take place this year from April 17-21, 2026, in Munich. The full program and further information about the congress can be found HERE.

As always, Dr. Brill will be available for personal discussions at the event in Munich. If you would like to arrange an appointment in advance, simply send an email to info@brillhygiene.com. We look forward to getting to know you or seeing you again there!

• Session type: Poster session
• Poster number : P3852
• Poster title: Clinical study on the influence of regular use of alcohol-based hand rubs on the skin microbiome
• Session title: 08h. Disinfection & sterilisation (incl medical device reprocessing)
• Session date: To be defined
• Session time and location : 12:00 - 13:30 in the Poster Hall B3

The 18th DGKH Congress for General and Hospital Hygiene (18. Kongress für Allgemeine und Krankenhaushygiene) will take place in Berlin from May 26 to 29, 2026. Our institute will be represented at the congress this year with the following contributions and individuals:

Wednesday, May 27, 2026 | 4:15 p.m. to 5:45 p.m. | Hall 21
Antiseptik: Alles weg? Effektivität von Antiseptik und Desinfektion (Antisepsis: All gone? Effectiveness of antisepsis and disinfection)
Prolonged infectivity of murine norovirus in aerosols suggests potential for airborne transmission
Dr. Florian H. H. Brill

Wednesday, May 27, 2026 | 4:15 p.m. - 5:45 p.m. | Hall 12-15
Zahnmedizin: Auf den Zahn gefühlt! - Neues aus der Hygiene in der Zahnmedizin (Dentistry: Getting to the bottom of it! - News from hygiene in dentistry)
Überprüfung des Reinigungserfolgs für dentale Übertragungsinstrumente in Anlehnung an die MAZI Studie (Review of cleaning success for dental transmission instruments based on the MAZI study)
Dr. Andreas Kampe

Poster without presentation | Poster exhibition
Replacement of poliovirus as test virus for efficacy evaluation of disinfection in the context of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative
Dr. Florian H. H. Brill

The complete program and further information about the congress can be found HERE. Our colleagues in Berlin will of course be happy to meet with you for a personal discussion. Dr. Florian H. H. Brill, Dr. Andreas Kampe, and Dr. Kerstin Walendy-Gnirß will be there and look forward to seeing you. To arrange an appointment in advance, simply send an email to info@brillhygiene.com.

Again with strong participation from the DR. BRILL INSTITUTES Group, the SETAC Europe 36th Annual Meeting will take place in Maastricht from May 17-21, 2026, under the theme "Embrace the Outlier: In Science, Regulations, and Networks." Dr. Brill Regulatory Services GmbH and Hydrotox GmbH will both be involved, both in terms of personnel and content – and, following last year's great success, we will once again have our own exhibition stand!

Our commitment in detail:

Exhibition booth - Booth No. 37: Hydrotox and Dr. Brill Regulatory Services will once again be represented with a joint booth at the SETAC Europe Annual Meeting.

Presentation title: Assessment of Endocrine Effects of Construction Products in the Environment
Presentation type: Poster
Session title: 6.04 - Endocrine Disruption: Scientific and Regulatory Challenges
Presentation day: Monday, 18 May 2026
Authors: Elena Perabo, Martina Springmann - Hydrotox GmbH, Freiburg i.Br. 
Co-Author: Dr. Peter Behnisch - BioDetection Systems b.v., Amsterdam

Presentation title: Biodegradability of Polymers in Aquatic Test Systems: ISO 14852 - Feasibility Study for Different Concentrations of Test Item and Inoculum
Presentation type: Poster
Session title: 3.18 - Microplastics Research: Beyond Fear-Mongering, Towards Trustworthy Science
Presentation day: Monday, 18 May 2026
Authors: Andrea Brunswik-Titze, Jessica Bühler, Marie Canon - Hydrotox GmbH, Freiburg i.Br., Germany

Presentation title: Sustainable green roofs for the implementation of the sponge city: Determination of ecotoxicologically safe construction products for green roofs
Presentation type: Poster
Session title: 3.09 - Environmental Forensics: Tracking Sources and Evaluating the Effects of Chemicals in Urban and Other Environments
Presentation day: Tuesday, 19 May 2026
Authors: Elena Perabo, Dr. Christoph Hafner - Hydrotox GmbH, Freiburg i.Br., Germany

Presentation title: Round Robin Test to prepare for consolidation of tests for ready biodegradability according to OECD 301/310
Presentation type: Poster & Poster Corner Discussion
Session title: 3.04 - Advancing Understanding of Environmental Persistence of Chemicals
Presentation day: Tuesday, 19 May 2026
Authors:
Ulrich Jöhncke - UBA, Section IV 2.3. Chemicals 
Andrea Brunswik-Titze - Hydrotox GmbH, Freiburg i.Br. 
Stefan Gartiser - Hydrotox GmbH, Freiburg i.Br.
Daniel Sättler - UBA, Section IV 2.3. Chemicals
Monika Ratte - ToxRat Solutions GmbH & Co. KG, Alsdorf
Benjamin Daniels - ToxRat Solutions GmbH & Co. KG, Alsdorf

Presentation title: Comparison of exposure modelling tools used in different regulatory areas
Presentation type: Poster
Session title: 3.02 - Advances in Exposure Modelling: Closing the Gap between Scientific Innovation and Regulatory Relevance
Presentation day: Wednesday, 20 May 2026
Presenter: Heike Schimmelpfennig

Our colleagues on site are already looking forward to welcoming what we hope will be a large number of our customers, as well as potential new customers, to our attractive booth - Booth No. 37. If you would like to arrange an appointment in advance, please feel free to contact us, e.g., by email here: info@brillhygiene.com

Use your participation in the SETAC Europe Annual Meeting for a personal meeting with us! The following colleagues will be present in Maastricht: From Dr. Brill Regulatory Services Dr. Gunnar Kleist (Director Regulatory Services) and Heike Schimmelpfennig (Senior Manager Regulatory Affairs), as well as from Hydrotox Andrea Brunswik-Titze (Team Leader and Test Leader Biodegradability), Jessica Bühler (Study Director Biodegradation), Elene Perabo (Test Leader Ecotoxicology, Third Party Research Projects) and Dr. Christoph Hafner (Head of GLP Test Facility, Customer Support).

One-day free tickets: Hydrotox has a small number of SETAC one-day free tickets available, which we would be happy to pass on to you. If you are interested, please contact Dr. Christoph Hafner directly by email at hafner@hydrotox.de.

The SETAC Europe Annual Meeting is an annual conference of the Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry (SETAC) Europe that brings together scientists, policy makers and industry representatives to discuss current issues in the fields of environmental toxicology, ecotoxicology and environmental chemistry.

Main features of the conference:

• Topics: Environmental risk research, life cycle assessment, regulatory developments and scientific policy advice
• Formats: Scientific sessions, plenary lectures, training sessions and networking events
• Participants: 2,000-2,500 experts from over 60 countries

The conference serves as a platform for the exchange of new findings and promotes cooperation between research, industry and authorities.

Link: SETAC Europe 36th Annual Meeting

Probiotic cleaners are becoming increasingly important in modern hygiene concepts. With our new service, we now offer an innovative, practical testing approach that is specifically tailored to the special characteristics of microbial cleaning formulations.

The method is based on the targeted further development of established testing procedures and enables a realistic assessment of cleaning performance and long-term effects. This allows probiotic and conventional cleaning agents to be compared under identical conditions and evaluated on a sound basis.

Manufacturers and developers thus obtain a reliable basis for comprehensively testing and further developing the performance of probiotic products.

If you are interested or have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us - we will be happy to advise you individually.

In recent time there were several meetings of the CEN/TC 216 were Dr. Florian H. H. Brill represented our institute. Should you have any questions or require advice on the following topics, we are of course happy to assist you!

The WG 3 led by Dr. Michele Cavalleri met in Milano in October 2025. The group drove several projects forward and asked WG 1 and WG 5 if they could integrate their project on a method for surface disinfection with mechanical action in the existing work mainly on the EN 16615 in WG 1. Subsequently, the WG 1 decided that they support the idea and ask the plenary meeting to open a new TC horizontal Task Force “Surface Disinfection with Mechanical Action” under the WG 5. The WG 5 in their meeting in December supported this idea. The plenary meeting in February 2026 will decide on that. This would drive our culture of reducing the complexity of the standards as no separate standard or standards would be published in WG 3 or 2 and their applications would be included in the EN 16615. In addition, a new initiative was started in WG 3 for algicidal testing with a first draft. Our Hydrotox team in Freiburg will put their expertise in the corresponding project group. Also, the WG 3 is moving forward to revise the EN 13704 and is intending a ring trial. Also a revision of EN 17658 was discussed and a project group was formed where our expert Dr. Britta Brands is part of.

The WG 1 meeting led by convenor Professor Katrin Steinhauer took place in November as an online meeting. The virucidal 4-field test will go to the next step and CEN-Enquiry was started. Dr. Dajana Paulmann from our team in Bremen is in the project group and supporting the development. The EN 1500 is due for revision and the WG 1 decided to form a project group first discussing the areas, where changes may be useful. Dr. Brill will be part of the project group. The new version of EN 14476 was just published and the group decided to go for an amendment to include the changes resulting from work in the WG 5 Task Force Replacement of Poliovirus which Dr. Florian H. H. Brill is leading. This task force where also Dr. Britta Becker and Dr. Dajana Paulmann from our virus lab are members worked on alternative viruses to Poliovirus which should be eradicated from the planet based on a WHO initiative. There were several meetings and a large round robin test comparing polio to Coxsackie virus and EMCV. A decision is prepared for the plenary meeting in February from this group.

The WG 5 meeting with the convenor Dr. Florian H. H. Brill took place in December in Berlin. In addition to the Task Force Replacement of Poliovirus the EN 14885 moved forward into the Enquiry phase as the MDR harmonization topic was solved. The harmonization and standardization task force started their work and Dr. Jürgen Gebel took the lead on revising the EN 12353 which is another major step for simplification. The EN 12353 will in future include the preparation of the strains for testing, so that this subsequently can be removed from all the other standard which will make them simpler and easier to merge into the new 1 test principle 1 standard direction. In addition, the biofilm task force which was a bit quiet will move forward now and drafting the first standards. The new task force structure is very efficient and the Task Forces Ring Trials, UV-Disinfection, Airborne-Disinfection and new surface disinfection without mechanical action are working independently and efficient.

We will continue to support this important voluntary work.

Our updated Statement of GLP Compliance is now available for download. It covers category 9 (according ChemVwV-GLP No. 5.3/OECD guidance): “Microbiological and biochemical testing of cleaning, disinfection, and sterilization procedures” as well as “In-vitro toxicological testing.” If you are interested in testing according to GLP category 9, please get in touch!

The Statement of GLP Compliance ensures compliance with the OECD principles of good laboratory practice (GLP) as defined in the OECD guideline “OECD Principles of Good Laboratory Practice, ENV/MC/CHEM(98)17.” This includes, in particular, the proper planning, conduct, monitoring, documentation, and archiving of non-clinical safety studies so that the results are regulatory recognized and legally valid. GLP certification thus guarantees that our studies meet the requirements of national and international regulatory authorities and provides the necessary legal and evidentiary validity for regulatory submissions.

Our institutes' certifications can be found here: LINK

From February 9-12, 2026, the WHX World Health Expo will take place in Dubai, and Dr. Florian Brill will be in attendance. The exhibition, formerly known as "Arab Health", is one of the world's leading platforms for health and medical technology. If you are interested in meeting with Dr. Brill on site, you are welcome to make an appointment for a meeting now. Just send an email to info@brillhygiene.com. We would be delighted to get to know you or see you again in Dubai!

We are extremely proud and delighted to welcome Dr. Toni Luise Meister as a new member of the Scientific Advisory Board of Dr. Brill Institutes. She combines excellent scientific expertise with broad experience in modern virology. With her remarkable scientific career, Toni Meister brings precisely the interdisciplinary expertise, strategic vision, and scientific credibility that will strengthen the Scientific Advisory Board of Dr. Brill Institutes in the long term:

Toni Luise Meister is a scientist at the IIRVD - Institute for Infection Research and Vaccine Development of the Bernhard Nocht Institute for Tropical Medicine.

Toni Meister earned a Bachelor of Science in Plant Biotechnology with a focus on molecular biology methods from Leibniz University Hannover in 2015. In 2017, she completed her Master of Science in Biomedicine at Hannover Medical School.

In 2021, she received her doctorate from the Department of Molecular and Medical Virology at Ruhr University Bochum. Her doctoral thesis focused on viral and host determinants in the hepatitis E virus replication cycle. She was also involved in various research projects on SARS-CoV-2 and other respiratory viruses.

After completing her doctorate, Toni Meister worked as a postdoctoral researcher in the same department, where she was able to expand her virological knowledge of a wide range of viruses. Her work has been recognized several times with the Best Season Paper Award from the Society for Virology. She also served as an expert in the drafting of guidelines for dealing with aerosol-transmissible pathogens and is a member of the Society for Virology (GfV) and Infect-Net.

Since October 2023, she has been working as a senior postdoc in the DZIF research area Emerging Infections (link: HERE) at the Institute for Infection Research and Vaccine Development.

Link to Toni Meister's DZIF junior research group "Molecular Virology of Emerging Viruses": HERE

She is also an associate project leader (PI) in the Collaborative Research Center 1648 "Emerging Viruses". Link: HERE

ORCID  ---  Contact  ---  Scientific Advisory Board

2025 was another very active year for Dr. Brill Institutes, marked by inspiring encounters, intensive professional exchanges, joint activities, and social engagement. In addition to the many professional events in which we participated once again – such as our own 11th Conference of Applied Hygiene, Microbiology and Virology (CAHMV) – the focus was, of course, once again on people and partnership.

A particular highlight was our wonderful summer party, which took place together with colleagues and customers in the courtyard of our headquarters in Hamburg-Hummelsbüttel. Two milestones were celebrated at the same time: 30 years of Dr. Brill + Partner GmbH and 15 years of management by Dr. Florian H. H. Brill. In a relaxed summer atmosphere – and with almost no rain! – personal exchanges once again demonstrated how valuable trusting cooperation and long-standing partnerships are to us.

2025 was also a strong year in terms of sports: our participation in the Blankeneser Heldenlauf (Blankenese Heroes Run) demonstrated team spirit, cohesion, and commitment – and above all, it was a lot of fun for everyone involved!

Social responsibility remains an important concern for us. That is why we made donations again at Christmas, once more supporting FUTUREPRENEUR e.V. and tat für tat: malawi e.V. – two organizations that are committed to education, development, and fair opportunities in the long term. Our colleagues at Hydrotox also largely refrained from sending Christmas cards by post and instead made a donation to Ökostation Freiburg – Das Umweltbildungszentrum mit Charme (Freiburg Eco Station – The Environmental Education Center with Charm).

With gratitude, we look back on a varied and positive 2025 – and are very much looking forward to the next steps now! Some exciting innovations and projects are already in the pipeline – more on that soon.

We are starting the new year with confidence and energy – and wish all our employees, partners, and customers for 2026 lots of luck, health, and success on all levels!