title: Inactivation efficiency to Bacillus subtilis and Escherichia coli bacterial aerosols of spraying neutral electrolyzed water.
abstract: The main objective of this study is to apply neutral electrolyzed water (NEW) spraying to inactivate bioaerosols. We evaluated the inactivation efficiency of NEW applied to inactivate two airborne bacterial Escherichia coli and Bacillus subtilis aerosols inside an environmental-controlled chamber in the study. Generated with electrolyzing 6.15 M sodium chloride brine, the NEW with free available chlorine (FAC) concentration 50, 100, and 200 ppm was pumped with an air pressure of 70 kg/cm2 through nozzle into the chamber to inactive E. coli and B. subtilis aerosols precontaminated air (initial counts of 3 x 10(4) colony-forming units [CFU]/m3). Bacterial aerosols were collected and cultured from chamber before and after NEW spray. The air exchange rate (ACH, hr(-1)) of the chamber was set to simulate fresh air ventilating dilution of indoor environment. First-order concentration decaying coefficients (Ka, min(-1)) of both bacterial aerosols were measured as an index of NEW inactivation efficiency. The result shows that higher FAC concentration of NEW spray caused better inactivation efficiency. The Ka values under ACH 1.0 hr(-1) were 0.537 and 0.598 for E. coli of FAC 50 and 100 ppm spraying, respectively. The Ka values of FAC 100 ppm and 200 ppm spraying for B. subtilis were 0.063 and 0.085 under ACH 1.0 hr(-1), respectively. The results indicated that NEW spray is likely to be effective in inactivation of bacterial airborne contamination. Moreover, it is observed in the study that the increase of ventilation rate and the use of a larger orifice-size nozzle may facilitate the inactivation efficiency.
authors.affiliation: Department of Bio-Industrial Mechatronics Engineering, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan, Republic of China.
authors.forename: Chi-Yu
authors.initials: CY
authors.lastname: Chuang
authors.affiliation: Center for General Education, Toko University, Taiwan, Republic of China.
authors.forename: Shinhao
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomechatronics Engineering, National Ilan University, Taiwan, Republic of China.
authors.forename: Ming-Yih
authors.initials: MY
authors.lastname: Chang
authors.affiliation: Center for General Education, Toko University, Taiwan, Republic of China.
authors.forename: Hsiao-Chien
authors.initials: HC
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.affiliation: Department of Safety, Health and Environmental Engineering, Hungkuang University, Taiwan, Republic of China.
authors.forename: Chin-Hsiang
authors.initials: CH
authors.lastname: Luo
authors.affiliation: lnstitute of Occupational Safety and Health, Council of Labor Affairs, Taiwan, Republic of China.
authors.forename: Po-Chen
authors.initials: PC
authors.lastname: Hung
authors.affiliation: Department of Bio-Industrial Mechatronics Engineering, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan, Republic of China.
authors.forename: Wei
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Fang
mesh_terms: D000336:Aerosols; D001412:Bacillus subtilis; D002713:Chlorine; D004203:Disinfection / Q000379:methods*; D004926:Escherichia coli; D014691:Ventilation; D014867:Water
chemical_list: D000336:Aerosols; D014867:Water; D002713:Chlorine