Bacteria die on stainless steel
To establish which materials allow pathogens to survived best, micro-organisms such as bacteria living in wet and dry environments, pathogenic fungi and the bacterium Escherichia coli, have been studied during comparative tests undertaken at the Hygiene Institute of the University of Leipzig.
Led by Professor Wolfgang Wildführ and Dr Annerose Seidel, the researchers discovered that the survival rate of the bacteria under investigation was twice as high on plastics as on stainless steel or glass. The 99.21% mortality rate of E-coli bacteria- after 120 minutes on stainless steel - was particularly high compared with the other materials.
Markus Braun, Chairman of the German Healthcare Group, and a senior manager at Meiko responsible for hospital hygiene products (the ‘Top-Line’ range of bed-pan cleaners), said he is evidently convinced that stainless steel should be more widely used in all areas where large numbers of people are cared for, where inevitably human excreta must be removed. ‘Stainless steel has further advantages,’ he added. ‘It is easy to clean and easy to recycle when its useful life is over.’
Details: www.meiko.de
01.07.2006
