國家消毒產品規范定義及衛生安全評價要求

抗菌（anti-microbial）：采用化學或物理方法殺滅細菌或妨礙細菌生長繁殖及其活性的過程。包括殺菌、抑菌。

An antimicrobial is an agent that kills microorganisms or stops their growth.Antimicrobial medicines can be grouped according to the microorganisms they act primarily against. For example, antibioticsare used against bacteria and antifungals are used against fungi. They can also be classified according to their function. Agents that kill microbes are called microbicidal, while those that merely inhibit their growth are called biostatic. The use of antimicrobial medicines to treat infection is known as antimicrobial chemotherapy, while the use of antimicrobial medicines to prevent infection is known as antimicrobial prophylaxis.

The main classes of antimicrobial agents are disinfectants ("nonselective antimicrobials" such as bleach), which kill a wide range of microbes on non-living surfaces to prevent the spread of illness, antiseptics (which are applied to living tissue and help reduce infection during surgery), and antibiotics (which destroy microorganisms within the body). The term "antibiotic" originally described only those formulations derived from living micro organisms but is now also applied to synthetic antimicrobials, such as the sulphonamides, or fluoroquinolones. The term also used to be restricted to antibacterials (and is often used as a synonym for them by medical professionals and in medical literature), but its context has broadened to include all antimicrobials. Antibacterial agents can be further subdivided into bactericidal agents, which kill bacteria, and bacteriostatic agents, which slow down or stall bacterial growth. In response, further advancements in antimicrobial technologies have resulted in solutions that can go beyond simply inhibiting microbial growth. Instead, certain types of porous media have been developed to kill microbes on contact.

抑菌（bacteriostasis）：采用化學或物理方法抑制細菌或妨礙細菌生長繁殖及其活性的過程。

THE MEANING OF BACTERIOSTASIS, BACTERICIDAL EFFECT, AND RATE OF DISINFECTION

★ 國家2010年1月1日施行的《消毒產品衛生安全評價規定》中明確規定了抗菌劑與抑菌劑的各項檢驗項目及要求

抗（抑）菌制劑檢驗項目及要求

注：“＋”為必須做項目；“－”為不做項目；“±”為選做項目。①限于化學成分。②使用說明中標明對真菌有作用或用于外陰部的產品進行該項試驗。③使用說明中標明對某一特定微生物有殺滅或抑制作用的，應進行該項試驗。④說明書中標明用于皮膚的抗（抑）菌制劑應進行多次皮膚刺激性試驗；說明書中標明用于粘膜的抗（抑）菌制劑應進行眼刺激性試驗，用于陰道粘膜的抗（抑）菌制劑還應進行陰道粘膜刺激性試驗。 

從上面表格中可以清楚的看出：抗菌劑是殺滅作用，而抑菌劑是抑制作用。

抗菌材料的起源從遠古時代人們就開始使用，能夠在一定時間內，使某些微生物(細菌、真菌、酵母菌、藻類及病毒等)的生長或繁殖保持在必要水平以下的化學物質。

殺菌劑和抑菌劑是作用方式不同，抑菌劑是通過抑制細菌繁殖發揮作用(如磺胺類、大環內酯類);殺菌劑則是破壞細菌細胞結構導致細菌死亡(如β內酰胺類)。

事實上殺菌或抑菌，并無絕對的界限。當濃度較高時，一些抑菌劑也會有殺菌作用。

殺菌劑和抑菌劑的區分似乎是通過試驗進行的。一個簡單的實驗如紙片法，在培養24hr后將含藥紙片移去，并繼續培養，若抑菌圈內的細菌重新生長，顯示是抑菌劑，若沒有重新生長，顯示為殺菌劑。