|
|
|
Fighting
bacteria! Even
though most bacteria in our environment are good, there are also
pathogenic bacteria which can cause serious diseases.
This is why we use antibacterial detergents to kill bacteria and
reduce the risk of diseases. In
this experiment we will test the efficiency of detergents used in everyday
households. Material -
ten Petri dishes
with agar -
Q – tips -
Para film -
warm place for
incubation -
Household
detergents o
Bleach o
Dish soap o
Hand soap
o
Windex with
ammonia
o
Simple Green
o
Tilex
o
Ear antiseptic o
Mouth wash
Method -
labeling of
dishes -
wetting of
Q-tips with my saliva for 10 sec.
-
dipping into
detergents for 5 seconds -
inoculation
(except control dish) by rubbing Q-tip on agar -
sealing of
dishes with parafilm -
incubation (3-5
days) at 28ºC -
observation of
colonies and photos -
storage in
fridge The
sealed dishes are observed each day for four days.
Results
Table # 2 Like the
non-inoculated control, saliva treated with bleach, Tilex, and ear
antiseptic do not show any colonies after four days of incubation. In the
other dishes, where saliva was treated with other detergents, colonies are
growing. In some dishes,
fungi is also growing. The
handsoap and the Windex have no effect on bacteria and the number of
counted colonies is the same as the non-treated saliva control.
Dish soap, Simple Green, and mouth-wash are capable of killing some
bacteria because we count less colonies then in the non-treated saliva
control. Conclusion With this
experiment, we have shown that some detergents work and some don’t
against bacteria. In my
experiment, I used the detergents either pure or very concentrated
compared to normal use. The
Q-tips were only dipped into the detergents for 5 seconds, but normally
you would use a detergent for more than 5 seconds.
It is important to note that the Q-tips were just dipped into the
detergents; normally, you would rub the surface with the detergent to
clean. Finally, we have shown that many bacteria can resist detergents. However, most of the bacteria that surround us are harmless. |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
