Inactivation of single-celled Ascaris suum eggs by low-pressure UV radiation

Intact and decorticated single-celled Ascaris suum eggs were exposed to UV radiation from low-pressure, germicidal lamps at fluences (doses) ranging from 0 to 8,000 J/m2 for intact eggs and from 0 to 500 J/m2 for decorticated eggs. With a UV fluence of 500 J/m2, 0.44-+/-0.20-log inactivation (mean+/-95% confidence interval) (63.7%) of intact eggs was observed, while a fluence of 4,000 J/m2 resulted in 2.23-+/-0.49-log inactivation (99.4%). (The maximum quantifiable inactivation was 2.5 log units.) Thus, according to the methods used here, Ascaris eggs are the most UV-resistant water-related pathogen identified to date. For the range of fluences recommended for disinfecting drinking water and wastewater (200 to 2,000 J/m2), from 0- to 1.5-log inactivation can be expected, although at typical fluences (less than 1,000 J/m2), the inactivation may be less than 1 log. When the eggs were decorticated (the outer egg shell layers were removed with sodium hypochlorite, leaving only the lipoprotein ascaroside layer) before exposure to UV, 1.80-+/-0.32-log reduction (98.4%) was achieved with a fluence of 500 J/m2, suggesting that the outer eggshell layers protected A. suum eggs from inactivation by UV radiation. This protection may have been due to UV absorption by proteins in the outer layers of the 3- to 4-microm-thick eggshell. Stirring alone (without UV exposure) also inactivated some of the Ascaris eggs (approximately 20% after 75 min), which complicated determination of the inactivation caused by UV radiation alone.