Journal of Microbial & Biochemical Technology

Inactivation of bacterial pathogens following exposure to UV-C light emitting diode array

International Conference and Expo on Water Microbiology & Novel Technologies

July 18-19, 2016 Chicago, USA

Anbazhagi Muthukumar

Bharathiar University, India

Posters & Accepted Abstracts: J Microb Biochem Technol

Abstract:

Safe water is a national priority that affects every man, woman and child. Ensuring safe and quality water has become more complex task today, than at any point of time in the history. A wide variety of microbes have been linked to outbreaks of illness associated with contaminated water. Owing to the lack of a reliable method to achieve complete inactivation of these pathogens, greater vigilance is warranted in this area to control them. Inactivation of microorganisms using methods involving exposure to light is an area of increasing research. Hence the aim of the proposed study is to design a Ultra Violet-C Light Emitting Diode (UVC-LED) disinfection module for the simultaneous inactivation of selected pathogens such as Salmonella, Shigella, Bacillus cereus, Listeria monocytogenes, staphylococcus aureus and Streptococcus sp. Experiments were carefully conducted to ensure that the inactivation effects recorded were only due to the direct effects of UV-C Light emitting Diodes (UV-C LED). The results show, for the range of bacteria tested, that in general Gram-positive bacteria require a much lesser time exposure to UV-C Light for inactivation than do Gram-negative bacteria. The bactericidal effect of the UV-C LED suggests a promising application to inactivate pathogens and hence much more work is required to establish if this type of light sensitivity is a widespread phenomenon among diverse types of waterborne pathogens.

Biography :

Email: sanbazhagi@gmail.com