Surface sanitization decrease bacterial

presence on this surface

Daniel Bouros
MCB 251 A
Date lab performed: Week 1
Due Date: Week 4
Introduction:
Bacteria and molds are microorganisms that are no visible by the human eye. This

microorganism are examples of prokaryote and eukaryote cell that generally have the same

structure as our cells but also have unique features. Bacteria and molds are present almost on all

the non-sterile surface. The experiment that we performed in class was designed to determine if

sanitization of a specific surface in our class using ethylic alcohol will decrease the number/type

of bacteria and molds present on this surface.

Hypothesis:

If the floor that contain bacteria and molds is sanitized with 70% ethanol , then the

number/type of bacteria and molds present on that part of the floor will decrease because due to

the chemical properties ethanol kills bacteria and molds by breaking down water-based membranes

and disrupting protein structures.

Materials:

 3 LA Agar

 70% ethanol solution

 1 tube with 10 ml sterile saline solution

 3 sterile cotton swabs

 class floor (under desk #1)

 gloves

Procedure:

1. Obtain a test tube with 10 ml of sterile saline solution.

2. Obtain three sterile 15 cm sterile cotton swabs.

3. Introduce all three cotton swabs in the tube with saline solution.
4. Obtain three LA Agar and label appropriately: 1) floor surface before sanitization,

2) floor surface after sanitization, 3) sterile saline.

5. Take one of the cotton swab out of the tube and obtain a sample of microorganism

by swabbing a small surface of your class floor.

6. Using the cotton swab start the dilution streak plate by streaking back and forth

across the top of the LA Agra.

7. Rotate the plate slightly counterclockwise and draw the loop through the first series

of streaks once or twice and streak about the half of the open are without touching

the first series of streak again.

8. Rotate the plate counterclockwise and finish streaking the plate and dispose the

swab.

9. Using a paper towel socked in 70% ethanol sanitize exactly the same surface that

you used to get the previous sample.

10. Take one of the cotton swab out of the tube and obtain a sample by swabbing the

same surface of your class floor that know is sanitized.

11. Using the cotton swab repeat the procedure described in Step 6, Step 7 and Step 8.

12. Take one of the cotton swab out of the tube and repeat Step 6, Step 7, and Step 8.

13. Place your samples on the table in the back of your class and make sure they are

properly labeled for future studies and observations.

Data:

Figure 1.1: Infected floor surface

Figure 1.2: Sanitized floor surface

Figure 1.3: Sterile saline solution

Results:

The data in Figure 1.1 represents the sample with microorganism colonies that were

swabbed from the floor surface which was not sanitized. The sample contains different type of

microorganism such as bacteria and fungal colonies that differ in shape and size. The bacterial

colonies are present in form of circular dots where the fungal colonies cover a larger surface and

do not have a specific shape. Figure 1.2 represents the sample of the sanitized surface which

despite cleaning the surface with 70% ethanol still contains two bacterial colonies of the circle

form but does not contain any fungal colonies. Figure 1.3 is the sample swabbed using the sterile

saline solution. Even though the saline solution was completely sterile, one bacterial colony is

visible on the surface of the La Agar in Figure 1.3. The qualitative and quantitative data

represented in this experiment are reliable and can be reproduced.

Discussion:

The results show that sanitizing the floor surface decreased considerable the number and

type of bacteria and molds present in the sample. Figure 1.1 shows that infected floor surface has

a lot of different types of microorganism which is demonstrated by the different shape of the

organism present on the Agar surface. The group noticed from Figure 1.1 that the floor surface

contains bacteria as well as mold microorganisms. In Figure 1.2 the number and type of

microorganism that were presented on the floor surface considerable decreased because we

treated the surface with the 70% ethanol which killed most of the microorganism presented in the

Figure 1.1. Therefore, Figure 1.2 proves that sanitizing an infected surface with 70% ethanol

solution will kill almost all the microorganisms. These results support our hypothesis. The group

noticed that bacterial colony presented on the Figure 1.2 shows that sanitization can decrease the

number of microorganism but not make the surface sterile. In addition, after sanitization only

bacterial colonies developed on the surface of Agar and no fungal colonies were seen in Figure

1.2. The group also noticed that the sample swabbed using the sterile saline solution also

developed a bacterial colony but of a smaller shape which may be explained by the fact that

cotton swabs could have been infected before introduced in the tube with the saline solution.

The group also acknowledge that result presented in Figure 1.1, 1.2, 1.3 may be affected

by the experimental errors. For future experiments, the group recommends swabbing the

sanitized surface right after the sanitization because leaving the surface even for a short period of

time increase the contamination. This mistake may be observed in Figure 1.2 where only one

colony developed which is explained by the fact that the group did not swab the sanitized surface

right away after disinfection.