Cold Plasma Inactivation of Bacillus cereus and Bacillus anthracis (Anthrax) Spores

Bacillus spores represent one of the most resistant organisms to conventional sterilization methods. This paper is focused on the inactivation of the spores of two Bacillus species, Bacillus cereus and Bacillus anthracis, using atmospheric-pressure dielectric-barrier-discharge (DBD) plasma. Spores t...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:IEEE transactions on plasma science 2010-08, Vol.38 (8), p.1878-1884
Main Authors: Dobrynin, Danil, Fridman, Gregory, Mukhin, Yurii V, Wynosky-Dolfi, Meghan A, Rieger, Judy, Rest, Richard F, Gutsol, Alexander F, Fridman, Alexander
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Anthrax
atmospheric-pressure dielectric barrier discharge (DBD)
Atmospheric-pressure plasmas
Bacillus
Bacillus anthracis
Bacillus cereus
Bacteriology
Biomedical engineering
Dielectrics
Fungi
Gram-positive bacteria
Immune system
Inactivation
Liquids
Mechanical engineering
Microorganisms
nonequilibrium plasma
nonthermal plasma
Plasma
Plasma applications
Solid surfaces
spore inactivation
Spores
Sterilization
Surface discharges
Surface morphology
Ultraviolet radiation
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Bacillus spores represent one of the most resistant organisms to conventional sterilization methods. This paper is focused on the inactivation of the spores of two Bacillus species, Bacillus cereus and Bacillus anthracis, using atmospheric-pressure dielectric-barrier-discharge (DBD) plasma. Spores treated in liquid or air-dried on a solid surface were effectively inactivated within 1 min of DBD plasma treatment at a discharge power of 0.3 W/cm 2 . Results of a series of model experiments show that neutral reactive oxygen species and UV radiation play a dominant role in the inactivation of spores. We also show that 45 s of the DBD plasma treatment of air-dried spores placed inside closed plastic or paper envelopes permits up to 7 log reduction of viable spores.
ISSN:0093-3813
1939-9375
DOI:10.1109/TPS.2010.2041938