Bathroom Bacteria

Overview

The bathroom is considered the second dirtiest place in your house. This place is used by many people each day, so it's good to frequently clean it to keep all of the nasty germs, bacteria, and viruses out. So, what is the most effective product to use to clean the bathroom you might ask? In this experiment, we will find out what is the best product to use to kill bathroom bacteria. By cleaning bathroom bacteria we could lower the number of people getting sick each year. So let’s find out which product is the best! My question that I will be testing in this project is, Which would kill bathroom bacteria more effectively, alcohol, hydrogen peroxide, or antibacterial hand soap and water? At the beginning of the project, I made a hypothesis on which product would clean the bathroom surfaces better. I guessed that hydrogen peroxide would do the best at cleaning because it is found in many cleaning products made by famous brands like CLOROX® and Lysol®. Followed by my hypothesis, were the steps that I used to complete the experiment. I first prepare the petri dishes. Then, sectioned the surfaces so I would know where to clean using what product. I start by collecting samples for my three control dishes and proceed to clean the surfaces and collect the samples for those, too. I incubated them for 5 days at 37 °C. When they finished incubating for 5 days, I took them out and analyzed them to collect data. From the experiment, I concluded that hydrogen peroxide was able to kill more bacteria compared to alcohol and antibacterial hand soap. It was able to kill an average of 24 millimeters of bacteria compared to about 40.5 millimeters of growth on the control plate. That is about 59.3% of bacteria killed. Now we know that H202 is the best product for killing bacteria. According to CNN Health, “One of his grossest studies (non-commissioned) was on how far bacteria spread when you flush with the lid up. If you don’t already know this, sit down. It’s at least 6 feet. Really. Yes, that means your toothbrush is being spattered with fecal matter. So are your bath towels, hand towels, and bar soaps.” Your feces can contain bacteria and viruses that can cause illness. This is why it is really important to clean all the surfaces in the bathroom.

Awards (1)

• Category Award: HM

Competition history

• CSEF 2023 Microbiology (General) · Entry J1519

Resources

• CSEF published award list ↗
• CSEF published award list ↗
• CSEF published award list ↗
• CSEF public showcase (Internet Archive capture) ↗

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