Water Resources Research Act Program

Principal Investigators: Sabrina Benhke

Abstract: The disinfection susceptibilities of suspended planktonic cells have been well-studied for a large variety of biocides. These biocides have been found to be much less effective against cells in biofilms, requiring biocide concentrations orders of magnitude higher than those necessary to kill suspended planktonic cells.

Although the detachment of aggregated cells from biofilms is of fundamental importance to the dissemination of contamination and infection in both public health and clinical settings,the disinfection efficacies of commonly used biocides on detached particles have not been investigated yet. Therefore, the question arises: Can cells in detached aggregates be killed with disinfectant concentrations sufficient to kill planktonic cells?