EFFICIENCY OF THE POLTI SANI SYSTEM PLUS HPMed IN REDUCING MICROBIAL LOAD ON INANIMATE SURFACES

J. Bermingham, E. Palombo
Environment and Biotechnology Centre, Faculty of Life and Social Sciences, Swinburne University of Technology, Hawthorn, Australia.

ABSTRACT
Microbial contamination is a concern to numerous industries including the medical, food and pharmaceutical industries. Methods that can reduce or eliminate microbial growth with minimal or no harm to the operator, products or end-user are desiderable. The purpose of the current project was to test the efficacy of the Polti Sani System plus HPMed in killing a selection of microorganism. These included Gram positive and Gram negative bacteria, fungi and bacterial endospores. The organisms selected for testing were considered representative of causative agents of nosocomial infection and other microbes of interest to medical, healthcare and food industries. A nebulising time of 30 seconds was found to be effective in completely eliminating the viable cells of vegetative bacteria and fungi and the 97% of bacterial endospores under the same test conditions, suggesting that extended treatment is necessary to ensure complete sterilization.

OBJECTIVE To test the ability of the Polti Sani System plus HPMed to arrest bacterial and mycotic growth using the protocol recommended by the manufacturer. The test protocol used exposure times of 15 and 30 seconds. METHODS AND MATERIALS The test organisms investigated were the Gram positive bacteria, Enterococcus faecalis, Staphylococcus aureus and the endospores of Bacillus subtilis, the Gram negative bacteria Pseudomonas fluorescens and Escherichia coli, the filamentous fungus Aspergillus niger and the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. With the exception of A. niger, all test organisms were subjected to the following test conditions. From bacterial (and S. cerevisiae) suspensions of 1.5 x 105 CFU/ml in saline solution were collected samples of 200 l each and added to three different sterile tissue culture plates. The suspensions were allowed to dry at 37 C for 30 mins and the samples exposed to the Polti Sani System plus HPMed for either 15 or 30s, according to the manufacturer's instructions. Control samples consisted of suspensions untreated. The samples were again dried (at room temperature), collected with a sterile cotton swab and inoculated onto either Brain Heart Infusion Agar or Tryptic Soy Agar (for bacteria) or Malt Extract Agar (for S. cerevisiae). The plates were incubated at either 37 C or 30 C for bacteria and yeasts, respectively, for a period not less than 24h. After the incubation period, individual colonies were counted and recorded as CFU.

A. niger was inoculated into 2 mL saline and 100 l added directly to a sterile tissue culture plate and dried for 30 mins at 37 C. The plates were treated for either 15 or 30s with the Sani System as per protocol for bacteria. Again, control samples consisted of suspensions that were placed in wells but were untreated. 5 mL of Malt Extract Broth were added to each well, the turbidity (optical density) of the suspension was measured, and the samples incubated at 30 C for 12 hours. At the completion of the incubation period, the turbidity of the suspension was measured.
RESULTS As illustrated in the figures 1 and 2, a 15s nebulising time was effective in reducing the bacterial load of S. aureus and S. cerevisiae by 100%. The bacterial load of P. fluorescens and E. coli was reduced by >99%, that of B. subtilis endospores by 96% and that of E. faecalis by >95%. The percent reduction was calculated by subtracting the average number of colonies observed on the treated plates from the untreated control plates. As the results of the testing against A. niger involved measuring turbidity rather than colony formation, these results were not presented graphically. However, the test protocol indicated that the growth of A. niger was reduced by 100% using a 15s nebulising time. With the exception of the Bacillus endospores (97% reduction), a nebulising time of 30 seconds was sufficient in reducing the number of all viable microorganisms by 100%.

Efficacy of 15s Nebulising Time

800 700 600 500 CFU 400 300 200 100 0
E. faecalis Staphylococcus Bacillus subtilis aureus E. coli Pseudomonas aerugonosa S. cerevisiae

Organism
Untreated Treated

Figure 1: Efficacy of the Polti Sani System at a nebulising time of 15s.

Efficacy of 30s Nebulising Time

1800 1600 1400 1200 1000 CFU 800 600 400 200 0
E. faecalis Staphylococcus Bacillus subtilis aureus E. coli Pseudomonas aerugonosa S. cerevisiae

Organism
Untreated Treated

Figure 2: Efficacy of the Polti Sani System at a nebulising time of 30s.

CONCLUSION
The Polti Sani System plus HPMed was effective in reducing the microbial load by 100% for representative Gram positive bacteria, Gram negative bacteria, filamentous fungi and yeasts when a nebulising time of 30 seconds was employed. Despite reducing the load by 97%, a 30 second nebulising time was unable to eliminate all bacterial endospores. The results of testing suggest that the Polti Sani System plus HPMed is an effective method of eliminating microbial contamination. However, caution should be exercised when the contaminating microorganism is able to produce endospores, which are specialized bacterial cells that are higly resistant to many antimicrobial treatments (e.g. heat, radiation and chemicals). Further testing of the Polti Sani System plus HPMed should be performed to determine the optimum treatment time for elimination of endospores.