AN EXPERIMENTAL STUDY OF POLYDISPERSE BACTERIAL AEROSOLS. REPT. II. DETERMINATION OF THE CHIEF PARAMETERS OF THE POLYDISPERSE SYSTEM FOR A CALCULATION OF THE SURVIVAL OF PATHOGENS
Abstract
Conclusions: A study of the nature of a bacterial aerosol requires a determination of the average content of microbes in the particle. An electrostatic precipitator is proposed for investigating particle preparations microscopically. For obtaining stained preparations, two methods are used -- staining of the cells in the initial suspension prior to spraying in the chamber (for studying freshly formed aerosols), and staining the particles on glass by the lengthy exposure of the pigment (for aerosols with dried particles). The sedimentation phenomena in a polydisperse aerosol proceed with a primary precipitation of large undried particles; that is why the average number of cells in a particle decreases in aerosols in saliva more rapidly than in aqueous aerosols. Drying particles are predominant in aqueous aerosols immediately after their formation, and in aerosols in saliva -- only in an hour after the spraying of the initial suspension. Satisfactory results in determining the survival rate of microbes in a polydisperse aerosol are guaranteed by a soluble granular aerofilter made of sodium alginate, since it makes it possible to effectively capture bacterial aerosols and following dissolving leads to the breaking up of the cellular complexes of the particles. Alginate turned out to be a harmless substance for the diphtheria bacillus.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jun 01, 1965
- Accession Number
- AD0620498
Entities
People
- V. P. Zhalko-titarenko
Organizations
- United States Army Biological Warfare Laboratories