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Microbiological sampling of towels: comparison of 7 methods
Zentralblatt Fur Bakteriologie, Mikrobiologie Und Hygiene. 1. Abt. Originale B, Hygiene
|May 1, 1982
Summary
New rinsing box and filter methods effectively detect bacteria on towels, offering higher recovery rates than traditional agar contact, swab, and tape methods. These techniques are suitable for microbiological towel testing.
Area of Science:
- Microbiology
- Textile Science
- Public Health
Background:
- Microbiological testing of textiles, such as pull-out roller towels, is crucial for hygiene.
- Traditional non-destructive methods like agar contact, swab, and tape methods show limited bacterial recovery rates.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate the efficacy of novel non-destructive microbiological testing methods for towels.
- To compare the bacterial recovery rates of the rinsing box and filter methods against traditional techniques.
Main Methods:
- Evaluated five non-destructive methods: agar contact (A), swab (S), tape (T), a novel rinsing box (R), and a filter (F) method.
- Used destructive methods (stomacher P, rotary mixer M) as references for recovery ratios.
- Tested recovery of Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, Micrococcus species, and Bacillus subtilis spores.
Main Results:
- Traditional methods (A, S, T) yielded low recovery rates (2-10%) for E. coli and S. aureus.
- The rinsing box (R) method achieved 60-90% recovery for multiple bacterial species and spores.
- The filter (F) method showed recovery rates slightly over 100% for E. coli and Micrococcus species.
Conclusions:
- The rinsing box (R) and filter (F) methods are highly suitable for the microbiological testing of towels.
- These novel methods offer significantly improved bacterial detection compared to traditional approaches.
- The rinsing box method's simplicity compensates for its slightly lower recovery compared to the filter method.