Effect of Electrical Charges and Fields on Injury and Viability of Airborne Bacteria

Details

• Personal Author:
  Baron, Paul A. ; Gorny RL ; Grinshpun SA ; Mainelis G ; Reponen T ; Trunov M ; Willeke K ; Yadav J
• Description:
  In this study, the effects of the electric charges and fields on the viability of airborne microorganisms were investigated. The electric charges of different magnitude and polarity were imparted on airborne microbial cells by a means of induction charging. The airborne microorganisms carrying different electric charge levels were then extracted by an electric mobility analyzer and collected using a microbial sampler. It was found that the viability of Pseudomonas fluorescens bacteria, used as a model for sensitive bacteria, carrying a net charge from 4100 negative to 30 positive elementary charges ranged between 40% and 60%; the viability of the cells carrying >2700 positive charges was below 1.5%. In contrast, the viability of the stress-resistant spores of Bacillus subtilis var. niger (used as simulant of anthrax-causing Bacillus anthracis spores when testing bioaerosol sensors in various studies), was not affected by the amount of electric charges on the spores. Because bacterial cells depend on their membrane potential for basic metabolic activities, drastic changes occurring in the membrane potential during aerosolization and the local electric fields induced by the imposed charges appeared to affect the sensitive cells' viability. These findings facilitate applications of electric charging for environmental control purposes involving sterilization of bacterial cells by imposing high electric charges on them. The findings from this study can also be used in the development of new bioaerosol sampling methods based on electrostatic principles. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Aerosols Air Pollutants, Occupational Biological Products Biological Warfare Agents Communicable Diseases Electricity Microbiology Occupational Health Particulate Matter Safety
• Keywords:
  Airborne-particles Author Keywords: Charging Of Airborne Microorganisms B. Subtilis Biological-agents Biological-warfare Biological-weapons Electrical-charge Electrical-fields Electrical Field Infection-control Infectious-diseases Microorganisms P. Fluorescens Relative Recovery

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• ISSN:
  0006-3592
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Grant
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  Ohio ; OSHA Region 5
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Division:
  DART - Division of Applied Research and Technology
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  229-241
• Volume:
  79
• Issue:
  2
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20022487
• Citation:
  Biotechnol Bioeng 2002 Jul; 79(2):229-241
• Contact Point Address:
  Aerosol Research and Exposure Assessment Laboratory, Department of Environmental Health, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, Ohio
• Email:
  mainelis@envsci.rutgers.edu
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2002
• NORA Priority Area:
  Research Tools and Approaches: Exposure Assessment Methods
• Performing Organization:
  University of Cincinnati
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Start Date:
  19970930
• Source Full Name:
  Biotechnology and Bioengineering
• End Date:
  20030331
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:c4d087e82c39e87eab3d61fce8f923778d12e81c293b163b9f1447d38154f51295ff8ef1264c204ba8dbd23f05dbc145055cf269c2e11d6f9cf1b2b410d0d480
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/199247/cdc_199247_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 699.37 KB ]