Adenosine triphosphate (ATP) monitoring for cleanliness is a relatively recent development. Although the science community knew about the reaction between luciferin and luciferase in 1885, it was not until the late 1940s that the proteins were extracted and purified from firefly lanterns. The development of the luminometer that measures very low levels of light, and the subsequent use of bioluminescence to monitor biological contamination, were introduced by Finnish inventor Veikko Tarkkanen in 1975. The monitoring systems that we use today were first offered for commercial application in early 2000.
It took almost a decade for the concept of ATP's use as a marker to measure biological cleanliness to reach the industry and commercial marketplace. Since then, the many technological advancements to the luminometer and chemical developments to the stability of the reactive enzymes and swabbing system have made ATP monitoring systems universally available, practical, and affordable. ATP has seen a meteoric rise in popularity and use, particularly among those of us concerned with "how clean is clean?" ATP monitoring has become increasingly indispensable as a quality control tool. Most of us would not, or could not, do without it.