## 3 Results and Discussion
However, until now, there has been no final decision on the use of triclosan [19]. However other antimicrobials may be used in materials. The application of the methodology used in this research, may be interesting to be compared with other studies in the future. Considering this biocide as a prototype for the understanding of other antimicrobial agents, it has also been reported that this substance has increased antimicrobial resistance in laboratory models [28; 65; 66]. In contrast, with real-life application, the results do not show an increase in antimicrobial resistance after the use of triclosan [20]. Due to its widespread use, triclosan is only partially removed during the wastewater treatment process and it has been found to be persistent in the environment [20; 57; 67; 68; 69]. Based on these references and our results, triclosan should be used on dry surfaces as bacteriostatic, and its use in low concentrations is justified as complementary to cleaning and disinfection procedures, which cannot be overemphasized. This observation could also be transferred to the formulation of the concentrations of use of other agents when the main commercial objective is that they reach high antimicrobial activity. The results of the wear condition test through successive washing/drying treatments to evaluate the loss of triclosan bacteriostatic properties are shown in Figure 3. The first treatment is shown to be more effective than the second and third treatments (\(p<0.05\)) (Figure 3A). Comparing the second and third treatments, differences between 400 and 600 ppm were observed in the activity of triclosan (\(p<0.05\)), while in the concentrations between 700 ppm and 850 ppm, no significant losses were observed (\(p>0.05\)) (Figure 3A). The highest bacterial inhibition observed in the first and second treatments was for the concentrations of 850 ppm (1.82 cm and 1.18 cm, respectively), while in the third treatment, it was for those of 800 ppm (1.03 cm). The lowest efficacy in the first and second treatment was for the concentrations of 400 ppm (0.69 cm and 0.55 cm, respectively), and in the third treatment, it was for those of 500 ppm (0.33 cm). The relationship between the triclosan concentrations (400 ppm to 850 ppm) and the bacterial inhibition (cm) confirmed a systematic reduction of the triclosan activity from the first to the third treatments. Therefore, the coefficients of determination of each treatment were first (R\({}^{2}\) = 0.836), second (R\({}^{2}\) = 0.857), and third (R\({}^{2}\) = 0.819) (Figure 3B). According to the results, which show a decrease in the bacteriatic effect when triclosan-containing surfaces are subjected to wear conditions, it is expected that they will also lose activity over time, under real-life use. The purpose of incorporating bacteriostatic agents is to ensure adequate hygiene and to inhibit bacterial growth on surfaces, maintaining bacteriostatic properties for long periods. Therefore, dry surfaces will maintain antibacterial properties as a long-lasting effect. Antibacterial components in appropriate concentrations can be incorporated during the manufacturing process for surfaces that do not come into direct contact with food to ensure more hygienic environmental conditions. This must be as homogeneous as possible, so as not to alter the physical properties of the material used. In the case of compounds such as triclosan, these bacteriostatic properties depend on the concentrations used. In the case of the present study, if high  
Figure 3: (**A**) Inhibition of the bacterial adhesion (cm) under wear condition of _S. aureus_ on polyester surfaces treated with triclosan in concentrations between 400 ppm and 850 ppm. The wear condition performed on three successive washing/drying treatments for each concentration. Different letters of mean values over the bars (a, b, c) represent significant differences (\(p<0.05\)) between the treatments for each concentration. The error bars represent the standard error of means.