Inactivation of Giardia lamblia cysts by polychromatic UV.
OBJECTIVE
Giardia lamblia is one of the most important waterborne pathogens in the world. In this study, we determined the effectiveness of a promising alternative UV technology - a polychromatic emission from a medium-pressure (MP) UV lamp - against G. lamblia cysts in phosphate buffered saline (PBS) and a filtered drinking water.


RESULTS
A UV collimated beam apparatus was used to expose shallow suspensions of purified G. lamblia cysts in PBS or a filtered drinking water and the UV-irradiated G. lamblia cysts were assayed in Mongolian gerbils. The inactivation of G. lamblia cysts was very rapid and reached a detection limit of >3 log(10) within a UV dose of 1 mJ cm(-2).


CONCLUSIONS
The results of this study indicate that MP UV irradiation is very effective against G. lamblia cysts in both PBS and a filtered drinking water.


CONCLUSIONS
It is likely that contamination of drinking water by G. lamblia cysts can be readily controlled by typical MP UV disinfection practises.
Shin
G-A
GA
Department of Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98105, USA. gwyam@u.washington.edu
Linden
K G
KG
Faubert
G
G
D000818:Animals; D002470:Cell Survival / Q000528:radiation effects; D004203:Disinfection / Q000379:methods*; D005849:Gerbillinae; D016829:Giardia lamblia / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000254:growth & development*; D005873:Giardiasis / Q000469:parasitology; D006801:Humans; D008018:Life Cycle Stages / Q000528:radiation effects; D014466:Ultraviolet Rays