A Systematic Evaluation of the Effect of Sodium Hypochlorite on Pathogenic Aerobic Bacteria and Its Possible Use as a Chemical Disinfectant for Microbiological Culture Plates

Sodium hypochlorite has been used as a proven disinfecting agent for more than 150 years. Of late, the ill effects of sodium hypochlorite on the human health and environment have come to light through studies of various agencies and governments are looking forward for proper recommendations. In the light of this, the current study gains lots of importance since there are only a few systematic studies available. The current study tries to determine the minimum effective dose and time required to disinfect common pathogenic aerobic bacteria on exposure to Sodium hypochlorite. The results have shown that 0.1 % of Sodium hypochlorite is sufficient to disinfect common pathogenic bacteria with a minimum exposure time of 5 minutes. It also shows that 0.5 % Sodium hypochlorite with a minimum exposure time of 5 minutes could be used to decontaminate culture plates used in Microbiology laboratories. Chemical disinfection with Sodium hypochlorite is safe, cost effective and can be used in all setups in a shorter period of time without the use of electricity.