Determining the effectiveness of alcohol-based sanitizer concentrations
on strains of epidermal floras
Abstract
Purell kills 99.99% of the most common germs which cause illnesses.
This means that 0.01% of bacteria still remains on the skin surfaces of
the organism. Optimal bactericidal efficacy is at 60-90% concentration
as even pure alcohol is less bactericidal. Purell consists of ethanol
which proves to be most effective in virucidal activity. Adding aqueous
solution to ethanol solutions can increase its efficacy against viruses
that are more resistant to ethanol alone. However, it is well known that
hand sanitizers are ineffective against non-developed viruses.
Alcohol-based hand sanitizers are very effective for quickly destroying
many pathogens through aqueous alcohol solutions. This study tests the
effectiveness of alcohol-based sanitizer concentrations on specific
types of epidermal bacteria. This experiments alcohol-based sanitizer
concentrations on two types of epidermal floras, Staphylococcus
epidermidis and Escherichia coli B. To test this hypothesis, a two-part
procedure was conducted using the Kirby-Bauer method. Low, high, and
optimal concentration solutions are formulated as the experimental group
while the control group is a pure aqueous solution. Using sterile
technique, cultures of Staphylococcus epidermidis and Escherichia coli B
were dispensed onto Petri dishes and tested with each different
concentration type. The results of Escherichia coli B disproved the
hypothesis as high concentration levels were most effective in
regulating its presence while Staphylococcus epidermis modulated best
under optimal concentrations. This considers the effectiveness of
sanitizer on bacteria that remains on the epidermis even after Purell is
applied and can display how concentration modifications affect the
growth of bacteria.