Legionella pneumophila Test Published as ASTM International Standard

ASTM International is an international standards organisation that develops and publishes standards applicable to a wide variety of industries. There are over 12,500 global ASTM standards, developed and reviewed by over 30,000 technical experts from 140 participating countries. 

Global water microbiology specialist, IDEXX, has announced that the Legiolert® test, for the rapid detection of Legionella pneumophila, has been published by ASTM International as ‘ASTM D8429-21: Standard Test Method for Legionella pneumophila in Water Samples Using Legiolert’.

This latest standard inclusion follows Legiolert having been specified as a recommended method in the by the UK’s Standing Committee of Analysts’ ‘blue book’ publication, ‘The determination of Legionella bacteria in waters and other environmental samples (2020) - Part 2 - Culture Methods for their detection and enumeration’. Legiolert is also recognised with AFNOR certification for hot and cold sanitary water and cooling tower water (Reference No IDX 33/06 06/19).  

A liquid culture method, Legiolert was launched in Europe and North America by IDEXX in 2017 as a highly sensitive method for the confirmed detection of Legionella pneumophila (the primary cause of Legionnaires’ disease) in water, delivering results up to seven days faster than traditional ISO culture testing methods.

There are more than 10 peer-reviewed papers that have highlighted the superior performance of Legiolert when compared to the standard method for detection of Legionella pneumophila. The ISO 11731 method has a number of limitations including a significant false negative error rate which can result in undetected contamination and consequent risk to human health. In contrast, Legiolert is a culture method which is both accurate and easy to use. 

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