AAAR 32nd Annual Conference
September 30 - October 4, 2013
Oregon Convention Center
Portland, Oregon, USA
Abstract View
Inactivation of Bioaerosols by Nanoparticles from Consumer Products
JENNIFER THERKORN, Leonardo Calderón, Gediminas Mainelis, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey
Abstract Number: 404 Working Group: Bioaerosols: Characterization and Environmental Impact
Abstract Better methods to inactivate microorganisms in the airborne state are urgently needed for applications like hospital ventilation systems and homeland security. Also, as the extent of antimicrobial resistance increases, there is an increasing need to find alternative cleaning products. Nanoparticles are of interest as they have been shown to offer antimicrobial properties through multiple modes of action ensuring less antimicrobial resistance to nanoparticle products. The antimicrobial effectiveness of silver nanoparticles has particularly been investigated and confirmed through surface applications. However, the efficacy of nanoparticles from consumer products against airborne biological particles is unknown. The goal of this research was to investigate the inactivation of bioaerosols by nanoparticles from consumer products. In a laboratory test chamber allowing about two seconds mixing time before sampling, bacterial bioaerosol (Escherichia coli) produced by three jet Collison Nebulizer (BGI Inc., Waltham, MA) was brought in contact with a separate stream of aerosol containing silver nanoparticles from a consumer product (0.001% weight in ethanol) generated by C-Flow PFA Concentric Nebulizer (Savillex, Eden Prairie, MN). Experimental controls included bioaerosol sampling with 1) no product mixing and 2) mixing with a stream of aerosol containing only 70% ethanol. Sampling via BioStage Impactor (SKC Inc, Eighty Four, PA), resultant colony forming unit (N$_(CFU)) enumeration indicated ethanol control did not significantly influence N$_(CFU) compared to sampling bioaerosol only (t(14)=-0.02, p=0.99) while the nanoparticle product significantly reduced N$_(CFU) by 99% (t(12)=11.28, p<0.001). These results indicate that aerosols containing nanoparticles may be a highly effective means for protecting public health by inactivating airborne microorganisms thus reducing exposure to viable microbes. Furthermore, release of such nanoparticles could also have an impact on airborne microorganism ecology. Future research includes investigation of the airborne versus surface application of nanoparticles from consumer products, and testing of different types of nanoparticles and microbial species.