Evaluation of penicylinders used in disinfectant testing: bacterial attachment and surface texture

Two possible deficiencies in the AOAC use-dilution method for registration of chemical disinfectants by the Environmental Protection Agency are examined: (1) the physical disparities among brands of penicylinders and (2) the variability of bacterial numbers on penicylinders depending upon test strain and penicylinder surface texture. Textural differences of 2 brands of stainless steel penicylinders, one brand of porcelain, and one brand of glass were assessed by scanning electron microscopy. A considerable variation in smoothness of both inner and outer surfaces of stainless steel and porcelain penicylinders was observed. Glass penicylinders were very smooth. Numbers of bacteria attached to a penicylinder were assessed by vortexing the penicylinders 30 s at No. 4 after using the AOAC method of bacterial inoculation and drying 40 min at 37 degrees C. With this methodology, stainless steel carriers retained the 3 AOAC-recommended bacterial test strains differentially: ca 10(7) for Pseudomonas aeruginosa, 5 X 10(6) for Staphylococcus aureus, and 10(6) for Salmonella choleraesuis; glass retained 10(6)-10(7) organisms of all 3 test strains; porcelain retained about that amount of S. aureus but 10(5)-10(6) P. aeruginosa and 10(3)-10(4) S. choleraesuis. These data suggest that disinfectants are not similarly challenged with the AOAC-recommended test bacteria and that an alternative method should be considered to ensure comparable numbers of bacteria on penicylinders.