Hand Soap Effectiveness On Escherichia Coli
Hand Soap Effectiveness on Escherichia Coli
Abstract:
Bacteria are an essential part of many different living organisms and ecosystems across the globe. Without bacteria there would have never had been life in the first place. But some bacteria have evolved to cause to humans, resulting in the need to eliminate them through such methods as soap. Hand soap is a crucial part of human health, especially in such places as schools and hospitals. In this experiment I wanted to determine the effectiveness of different brands of hand soap in killing Escherichia Coli. I did this by creating dilutions of Escherichia Coli in varying concentrations of different brands of hand soap. They were allowed to incubate until bacterial growth occurred and then the bacterial density was determined by an OD600 test in a spectrophotometer. The data suggests that higher concentrations of soap are needed for greater effectiveness in killing bacteria. Also, the data shows that certain hand soaps were more effective with lower concentrations. Overall, this experiment gives a small insight to the concentrations of soap needed to effectively kill of bacteria and could help lay the groundwork for more thorough experiments.
Introduction:
While bacteria might be one of the most simple and smallest forms of life they still play a huge role in every living creature. While many strains of bacteria are important for the survival of humans there are still many that are harmful. It has been shown that bacteria that infect an open wound can have a negative impact on your health [1]. Thus, there has been great work done to increase quality of health by lessening exposure to harmful bacteria. One of the main ways is by washing your hands; it has been shown that washing your hands cuts down on the amount of bacteria transferred to the food you eat [2]. By having fewer bacteria on the food you consume, the less likely you will be to come in contact with harmful bacteria. Also, hand soap has been
Abstract:
Bacteria are an essential part of many different living organisms and ecosystems across the globe. Without bacteria there would have never had been life in the first place. But some bacteria have evolved to cause to humans, resulting in the need to eliminate them through such methods as soap. Hand soap is a crucial part of human health, especially in such places as schools and hospitals. In this experiment I wanted to determine the effectiveness of different brands of hand soap in killing Escherichia Coli. I did this by creating dilutions of Escherichia Coli in varying concentrations of different brands of hand soap. They were allowed to incubate until bacterial growth occurred and then the bacterial density was determined by an OD600 test in a spectrophotometer. The data suggests that higher concentrations of soap are needed for greater effectiveness in killing bacteria. Also, the data shows that certain hand soaps were more effective with lower concentrations. Overall, this experiment gives a small insight to the concentrations of soap needed to effectively kill of bacteria and could help lay the groundwork for more thorough experiments.
Introduction:
While bacteria might be one of the most simple and smallest forms of life they still play a huge role in every living creature. While many strains of bacteria are important for the survival of humans there are still many that are harmful. It has been shown that bacteria that infect an open wound can have a negative impact on your health [1]. Thus, there has been great work done to increase quality of health by lessening exposure to harmful bacteria. One of the main ways is by washing your hands; it has been shown that washing your hands cuts down on the amount of bacteria transferred to the food you eat [2]. By having fewer bacteria on the food you consume, the less likely you will be to come in contact with harmful bacteria. Also, hand soap has been