Killing Germs: Your Battle with Biofilm

Biofilm is formed by colonies of similar bacteria, usually on damp surfaces such as your sink. The germs cooperate to build and maintain a barrier that keeps even strong disinfectants such as bleach and iodine at bay.

Yes, they can resist bleach and iodine! Read this: Killing Germs: Are You Winning the Battle with Biofilm? - HousekeepingChannel.com.

Excerpt:

Scientific American Magazine reports that bacteria communicate to build "microcolonies within a sophisticated architecture" that protects the organisms in a kind of walled — if somewhat slimy — city.

According to Science News Magazine, scientists report that, "Pseudomonas [the bacterium that causes cystic fibrosis pneumonia] … [in a biofilm can] survive in bottled iodine solution for up to 15 months." Based on another study, Scientific American reported that harmful microbes suspended in a biofilm were still alive and well after 60 minutes exposure to bleach.

Stanford University researchers reported that the germ that causes cholera (Vibrio cholerae) forms a biofilm that enables it to survive in the presence of chlorine in concentrations 1000 to 2000% higher than that found in chlorinated drinking water. Washington DC’s water supply was compromised by biofilms in 1996 for this very reason.

Posted using ShareThis