Electrolyzed Water Kills 99.9% of Harmful Bacteria in Hospital Settings
- Authors
- Takashi Okanda, Ryo Takahashi, Tomoko Ehara, Kiyofumi Ohkusu, Nobuhiko Furuya, Tetsuya Matsumoto
- Journal
- Journal of Infection and Chemotherapy
- Year
- 2019
- DOI
- 10.1016/j.jiac.2019.01.014
- Study Type
- Cell Culture
- Outcome
- Positive
- Peer Reviewed
- Yes
- Country
- Japan
- Health Condition
- Hospital-Acquired Infections
- Body System
- Immune System
TL;DR
Slightly acidic electrolyzed water (SAEW) is an effective and safe disinfectant for breaking down and killing bacteria in stubborn biofilms on surfaces and medical instruments.
Key Finding
Slightly acidic electrolyzed water at 30 ppm concentration completely eliminated Pseudomonas aeruginosa biofilms and achieved up to 99.9% reduction in biofilm material within minutes at room temperature.
Summary
Researchers tested a special type of water called slightly acidic electrolyzed water (SAEW) to see if it could break down and kill biofilms—sticky layers of bacteria that form on medical equipment and hospital surfaces. They found that SAEW at low concentrations effectively destroyed biofilms made by Pseudomonas aeruginosa bacteria, removing up to 99.9% of the biofilm material and completely killing the bacteria, even at room temperature.
Practical Takeaway
This laboratory study suggests SAEW may be useful for disinfecting medical equipment and hospital surfaces, but the research was conducted in controlled lab conditions only—not in real-world hospital settings or in humans. More research would be needed to determine if these results translate to practical clinical applications.
Abstract
Introduction: Biofilm formation is an important issue in the healthcare industry, but conventional disinfectants are not effective for biofilms formed in the hospital environment and on medical instruments. In this study, aim at determine the effectiveness of slightly acidic electrolyzed water (SAEW) on biofilm removal and the disinfection of biofilm-forming Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Methods: Mucoid and non-mucoid strains were used for biofilm formation. Biofilms were incubated with SAEW and the reduction in biofilm volume was determined based on the optical density. Furthermore, to investigate the mechanism underlying the effects of SAEW, a biofilm was produced with alginate and structural changes in response to incubation with SAEW were observed by fluorescence microscopy. The minimum bactericidal chlorine concentration of SAEW for P. aeruginosa cells was evaluated. Results: The amounts of alginate and biofilm decreased by 99.9% and 56.8% immersed by 30 ppm of SAEW at 25 °C for 10 min. The effectiveness of SAEW increased as the temperature increased, and the biofilm volume was reduced by 85.4% at 45 °C. Furthermore, 30 ppm SAEW completely disinfected P. aeruginosa in the biofilm, even for immersion at 15 °C for 5 min. Conclusion: Our results suggest that SAEW, a low-cost and safe chlorine disinfectant, is a useful disinfectant for biofilm-forming bacteria.