Search PubMed⌕ Search

SEARCH · Search PubMed

Results for “SANITATION”

Search indexed PubMed citations on genomics, clinical trials, systematic reviews and public health. Explore titles, authors and supplied subject terms, then open the PubMed record.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 217 records · Page 12Linked to original sources

[Human resources for the International Drinking Water Supply and Sanitation Decade].

This article discusses the status of water supplies and sanitation in Latin America and the Caribbean, reviews the dimensions of the sector's manpower problem, and proposes solutions for it. The author considers the activities to be carried on and measures to be taken to cope with the various obstacles ahead in connection with the International Drinking-Water Supply and Sanitation Decade. He feels that the great need for manpower to carry on the work makes it necessary to devise new training methods and teaching instruments and new approaches such as are already applied in some of the countries. Lastly, he emphasizes the need for active participation by all those involved in the sector in one way or another, in a joint effort to arrive at satisfactory solutions and attain the objectives of the Decade.

Developing Countries↗

Health, safe water and sanitation: a cross-sectional health production function for central Java, Indonesia.

The study describes the development of health production functions and their application in the evaluation of the health impacts of investments in safe water and sanitation. For this purpose, data on the morbidity of waterborne diseases and diarrhoea were collected from medical records in the province of Central Java, Indonesia. A reciprocal production function was found to fit the data best. The health production functions exhibit constant return to scale, i.e., a simultaneous m-fold increase in both safe water and sanitation coverage produces a 1-1/m decrease in morbidity. Safe water was found to be more important for health than the sanitary disposal of excreta.

Diarrhea↗

Does the clinical use of ethanol-based hand sanitizer elevate blood alcohol levels? A prospective study.

BACKGROUND: Ethanol-based hand sanitizers (EBHSs) are used in most health care facilities in the United States. Infection control personnel advocate the use of generous quantities of EBHS before and after contact with patients. Although it is assumed that little systemic absorption of ethanol occurs during EBHS use, many alcohols are absorbed to varying degrees via the transdermal route. Ethanol intoxication by employees in the medical workplace is a potentially serious finding, and it is of forensic and medical-legal importance to elucidate the effects of frequent use of EBHS upon serum blood ethanol levels (BELs). To investigate the effect of frequent use of EBHS upon serum blood ethanol concentrations, we prospectively studied 5 volunteers undergoing frequent application of EBHS. METHODS: Enrolled subjects applied 5 mL of the product (62% denatured ethyl alcohol manufactured by Kimberley-Clark, Roswell, GA) to both hands and rubbed until dry. This activity was repeated 50 times over 4 hours. Participants had their blood drawn before as well as after completing the study. Each participant was without alcohol exposure during the 12 hours preceding the study. RESULTS: Five volunteers were enrolled. All had an initial blood ethanol level of less than 5 mg/dL. All 5 participants completed the 4-hour study. There were no noted adverse reactions during the study. Blood ethanol level upon completion of the 50 applications of EBHS was less than 5 mg/dL in all 5 study participants. CONCLUSION: The results of this study demonstrate that use of ethanol-based hand sanitizers, when frequently used in accordance with labeling, do not raise serum blood ethanol levels.

Administration, Cutaneous↗

Sanitation of seawater effluent from seaweed processing plants using a photo-catalytic TiO2 oxidation.

A fine porcelain open-cell photo-catalytic filter with titanium dioxide (TiO(2)) was evaluated for sterilization and sanitation of bio-polluted industrial water. In simulated seawater industrial effluent samples, the populations of Escherichia coli and Vibrio parahaemolyticus quickly decreased and reached non-detectable level within 10min. In seawater effluents from a seaweed processing plant, the bacterial populations in two samples quickly decreased by more than 10(3). In another two samples the decreases were slow and lowered by less than 10(2). Using fluorescence microscopy, it was indicated that the bacterial cells treated with photo-catalytic TiO(2) were damaged. In addition, the protein concentration in simulated seawater effluent slowly decreased using the photo-catalytic TiO(2) reaction; and reached similar concentrations as seawater near cultured seaweed beds. These results indicate that using a reactor with a TiO(2) photo-catalyst filter was effective for the sanitation of seawater effluents.

Catalysis↗

Comparison of methods for fluorescent detection of viable, dead, and total Escherichia coli O157:H7 cells in suspensions and on apples using confocal scanning laser microscopy following treatment with sanitizers.

The influence of treating Escherichia coli O157:H7 cells labeled with an enhanced green fluorescent protein (EGFP) plasmid with 20 microg/ml active chlorine, 100 mg/ml hydrogen peroxide, and 80 mg/ml acetic acid on fluorescence intensity was determined. In addition, fluorescent staining methods to differentiate viable and dead E. coli O157:H7 cells on the cuticle of Red Delicious cv. apples following treatment with water or 200 microg/ml active chlorine were evaluated. Suspensions of E. coli O157:H7 EGFP+ cells were exposed to chemical treatment solutions for 0, 30, 60, 120, or 300 s before populations (log10 cfu/ml) were determined by surface plating, and fluorescence intensities of suspensions and individual cells were measured using spectrofluorometry and confocal scanning laser microscopy (CSLM), respectively. The relative fluorescence intensity of suspensions and individual cells changed upon exposure to various treatments. Results indicate that the use of EGFP to tag E. coli O157:H7 may not be appropriate for investigations seeking to microscopically differentiate viable and dead cells on produce following surface treatment with sanitizers. SYTOX Orange and SYTOX Green nucleic acid stains fluorescently labeled dead E. coli O157:H7 cells attached to apple cuticles more intensely than did propidium iodide. A cross-signal occurred between CSLM photomultipliers when examining tissues treated with SYTOX Orange to detect dead cells and antibody labeled with Alexa Fluor 488 to detect total (dead and viable) cells. Because of the possibility of cross-signal resulting in an overestimation of the number of dead cells on apples and, perhaps, other produce treated with these stains, SYTOX Green is preferred to detect dead cells and antibody labeled with Alexa Fluor 594 is preferred to detect the total number of cells on apple surfaces following treatment with sanitizers. The performance of SYTOX Green in combination with Alexa Fluor 594 to detect dead and total cells of E. coli O157:H7 on other produce remains to be determined.

Acetic Acid↗

Effectiveness of a steam-vacuum sanitizer for reducing Escherichia coli O157:H7 inoculated to beef carcass surface tissue.

A steam-vacuum sanitizer reduced aerobic plate counts associated with bovine faecal contamination from 5.5 log10 cfu cm-2 to 3.0 +/- 0.21 log10 cfu cm-2 on beef carcass short plates. The same beef carcass short plates inoculated with 7.6 +/- 0.09 log10 cfu cm-2 Escherichia coli O157:H7 in faeces, yielded an average residual level of E. coli O157:H7 of 2.1 +/- 0.21 log10 cfu cm-2, after steam-vacuum treatments. This study demonstrates the effectiveness of a steam-vacuum sanitizer for removing E. coli O157:H7 from beef carcasses.

Animals↗

Sensitivity of Listeria monocytogenes to sanitizers used in the meat processing industry.

Nineteen Listeria monocytogenes strains were characterized by automated ribotyping, pulsed-field gel electrophoresis, and plasmid profiling to determine the relationship between genotype and sanitizer resistance. Isolates within a ribogroup had a consistent sensitivity or resistance phenotype except for ribogroup C isolates. All isolates with resistance phenotypes harbored two plasmids. The sensitivity of L. monocytogenes strains to quaternary ammonium compounds (QACs) was correlated with sensitivity to sanitizers and antibiotics with other modes of action. All isolates tested contained the mdrL gene, which encodes an efflux pump that confers resistance to QACs and is both chromosome and plasmid borne.

Animals↗

Injury of bacteria by sanitizers.

Injury of test cultures was quantitated by differences in colony counts obtained with a complete medium and those obtained on conventional selective media. Staphylococcus aureus, Streptococcus faecalis, and several strains of Escherichia coli were injured when exposed to the quaternary ammonium compound methylalkyltrimethyl ammonium chloride. Representative hypochlorite sanitizers also caused injury of E. coli ML30. Sanitizer concentration appeared to be the main factor in the cause of death and injury, a higher concentration being needed to cause death. Increases in temperature did not result in substantial increases in injury; however, the lethal effect was greater at higher temperatures. Varying the cell concentration from 10(7) to 10(9) cells per ml did not change the fraction of cell population killed or injured. The inability or failure of common selective media to detect injured bacteria in food could have serious public health consequences.

Chlorine↗

Experience with mouse hepatitis virus sanitation in three transplantable murine tumour lines.

Transmission of viral infection by tumour lines or other biological materials may have confounding effects on research. Many research organizations require screening for viral agents of all cell lines, tumours, sera and other biologicals before implantation or inoculation into animal models. Screening for viral contamination is done by the mouse antibody production (MAP) test, by cell culture, or alternatively by direct detection of the viral agents by polymerase chain reaction (PCR). The description of procedures for sanitation of infected cell lines or tumours is sparse. The present report describes the procedures used for sanitation of three transplantable murine tumour lines, which were transplanted in vivo in a mouse hepatitis virus (MHV)-infected colony of mice at the Department of Experimental Clinical Oncology (DECO). The tumours were frozen and serially transplanted three times in a quarantine colony of syngenic mice. Serological examination of the mice transplanted with tumours as well as their cage mates in the quarantine colony did not detect any antibodies against MHV. After repeated serial transplantation in seronegative animals, tumour material was frozen and thawed tumours were later used for transplantation into the newly established virus-free colony of mice at DECO. PCR-based detection of MHV did not reveal any contamination of the tumour examined by this technique, indicating that this murine tumour apparently did not transmit MHV or that MHV was eliminated from the tissue so fast after the infection that it could not be transmitted by the tumour tissue. It is concluded that MHV infection of mice with transplantable murine tumours does not necessarily cause the tumours to be contaminated.

Animals↗

[Residence quality of thatched houses from the viewpoint of thermal sanitation].

For the people who live in cold region, residence quality is especially important to their health, not only from economical aspects such as heating costs in the winter, but also thermal sanitation. Thatched houses are not rare in the district areas. From the climatic or historical implication, old thatched houses are recently improved or rebuilt and people intend to use them. That is, improvements are carried out on such old houses, and the good points are utilized, and reconstruction undertaken, and the example of presenting the house adaptation is also mainly observed. In this study, the thermal sanitation of the indoor environment in the winter was mainly examined on the cases of thatched houses near Fukushima City. The thatched houses used as research objects, are over 100 years after construction and they were previously used as sericulture farmhouses. A temperature and humidity collector and an automatic recording thermo-hygrometer were used in the measurement of the air temperature and humidity. This study was carried out in winter, February and March. The temperature was considerably different according to various parts of the rooms and time, and the air temperature near the ceiling was higher generally than the lower parts of room, near the floor. In the research of the housing where large-scale reconstruction was made, the room temperatures of the living room and kitchen were comparatively high at the time when they were used. In the meantime, room temperatures in the washroom, bedroom, etc. were generally low, showing a changing pattern, which was almost parallel to the change of the outside ambient temperature. In the research of the housing where ceilings had been added and the hearth, etc. had been improved; the room temperatures of most rooms were the lowest in early the morning. The room temperature of the living room rose in the morning and evening where the family gathered, and it was especially higher in the evening, showing air temperature from 12 degrees C to 18 degrees C. In the bedrooms, which did not use heating appliances such as oil heaters etc., the room temperature was generally low. In the present study, the room temperature of the living room was comparatively high and that of the bedrooms and lavatories in houses with inadequate heating system was low. Even if reconstruction or improvement of old houses is made, the thermal indoor condition is not sufficient. Consideration of thermal facilities of floor heating, etc. is necessary with the air-tightness of houses following reconstruction.

Construction Materials↗

Pesticide safety training and access to field sanitation among migrant farmworker mothers from Starr County, Texas.

Very little published research describes employer compliance with EPA-mandated Worker Protection Standard (WPS) pesticide safety training and the OSHA Field Sanitation Standard among farmworker women in general and mothers specifically. A goal of both standards is limiting farmworkers' exposure to potentially hazardous agricultural pesticides. Data from a NIOSH-supported cohort study ("Injury and Illness Surveillance in Migrant Farmworker Families") allowed for examining these issues. The cohort included 267 migrant farmworker families who usually reside along the Texas-Mexico border (Starr County, Texas). Data were collected in Starr County during in-home interviews. Of 102 mothers who participated in migrant farm work during summer 2001, 57 (55.9%) reported having ever received training/instruction in the safe use of pesticides, while 47 (46.1%) reported having received training within the previous five years, as required by WPS. Of trained mothers, 91.5% to 93.6% reported that their training covered key WPS areas: (1) entry into a recently treated field, (2) pesticide related injuries/illnesses, and (3) where to go and who to contact for emergency care following exposure. Regarding access to field sanitation, 67.5% to 84.2% of 77 mothers who worked outside Texas reported employer-provided decontamination supplies (e.g., soap, wash water, towels, and toilet facilities). However, a strikingly smaller proportion (12% to 28%) of 25 mothers who worked within Texas reported access to the same resources, suggesting discrepancies in compliance across the U.S. Due to the low level of employer compliance with both WPS and OSHA mandated standards, increased enforcement and an alternate delivery of pesticide training is recommended.

Accident Prevention↗

Environmental sanitation conditions and health impact: a case-control study.

This epidemiological investigation examines the impact of several environmental sanitation conditions and hygiene practices on diarrhea occurrence among children under five years of age living in an urban area. The case-control design was employed; 997 cases and 999 controls were included in the investigation. Cases were defined as children with diarrhea and controls were randomly selected among children under five years of age. After logistic regression adjustment, the following variables were found to be significantly associated with diarrhea: washing and purifying fruit and vegetables; presence of wastewater in the street; refuse storage, collection and disposal; domestic water reservoir conditions; feces disposal from swaddles; presence of vectors in the house and flooding in the lot. The estimates of the relative risks reached values up to 2.87. The present study revealed the feasibility of developing and implementing an adequate model to establish intervention priorities in the field of environmental sanitation.

Case-Control Studies↗

Optimization analysis of decentralised sanitation and re-use system.

With the application of system dynamics, a dynamic nonlinear model reflecting the relationship between decentralised water use and reclaimed water supply and demand has been established. Through a system analysis, the model has been applied to a small residential district to predict and analyse the situation of future use of fresh water, demand and supply of re-used water, and treatment scale of reclaimed water. It is illustrated in this paper that wastewater decentralised treatment and re-use can decrease the consumption of fresh water without lowering the standard of living water for the district residents. On this basis, a rational scale and construction time of the decentralised sanitation and re-use system have been determined. Also, the paper predicts the influencing factors of the increasing water cost and changes in consumers' acceptability to re-use water in the decentralised sanitation and re-use system.

China↗

Evaluation of spray application of postmilking teat sanitizer.

Application of postmilking teat sanitizer by spraying was evaluated in two experimental challenge trials with Streptococcus agalactiae (ATCC 27956) (McDonald 44). A .5% quaternary ammonium teat sanitizer was used in both studies. By direct comparison, teat spraying and dipping did not differ in effectiveness. Efficacy for the .5% quaternary ammonium compound was 58.6%, similar to results on the product applied as a dip (13).

Administration, Topical↗

Verifying apple cider plant sanitation and hazard analysis critical control point programs: choice of indicator bacteria and testing methods.

The objectives of this study were (i) to evaluate the survival of coliforms, Escherichia coli, and enterococci in refrigerated apple cider; (ii) to develop simple and inexpensive presumptive methods for detection of these bacteria; (iii) to perform a field survey to determine the prevalence of these bacteria on apples and in apple cider; and (iv) based on our results, to recommend the most useful of these three indicator groups for use in verifying apple cider processing plant sanitation and hazard analysis critical control point (HACCP) programs. Eight of 10 coliform strains (5 E. coli, 1 Enterobacter aerogenes, and 2 Klebsiella spp.) inoculated into preservative-free apple cider (pH 3.4, 13.3(o) Brix) survived well at 4 degrees C for 6 days (< or = 3.0 log10 CFU/ml decrease). Of 21 enterococci strains (Enterococcus faecalis, E. faecium, and E. durans), only 2 E. durans and 3 E. faecium strains survived well. Simple broth-based colorimetric methods were developed that detected the presence of approximately 10 cells of coliforms or enterococci. In three field studies, samples of unwashed apples (drops and picked), washed apples, and freshly pressed cider were presumptively analyzed for total coliforms, E. coli, and enterococci using qualitative and/or quantitative methods. Drop apples were more likely than picked apples to be contaminated with E. coli (26.7% vs. 0%) and enterococci (20% vs. 0%). Washing had little effect on coliform populations and in one field study was associated with increased numbers. Total coliform populations in cider ranged from < 1 CFU/ml to > 738 most probable number/ml, depending on the enumeration method used and the sample origin. E. coli was not recovered from washed apples or cider, but enterococci were present on 13% of washed apple samples. The qualitative coliform method successfully detected these bacteria on apples and in cider. Based on its exclusively fecal origin, good survival in apple cider, and association with drop apples, we conclude that E. coli is the most useful organism for verifying apple cider sanitation and HACCP programs.

Beverages↗

A method of assessing the efficacy of hand sanitizers: use of real soil encountered in the food service industry.

In many outbreaks of foodborne illness, the food worker has been implicated as the source of the infection. To decrease the likelihood of cross-contamination, food workers must clean and disinfect their hands frequently. To ensure their effectiveness, hand disinfectants should be tested using rigorous conditions that mimic normal use. Currently, several different methods are used to assess the efficacy of hand disinfectants. However, most of these methods were designed with the health care worker in mind and do not model the specific contamination situations encountered by the food worker. To fill this void, we developed a model that uses soil from fresh meat and a means of quantifying bacteria that is encountered and transferred during food preparation activities. Results of studies using various doses of para-chloro-meta-xylenol and triclosan confirm that the method is reproducible and predictable in measuring the efficacy of sanitizers. Consistent, dose-dependent results were obtained with relatively few subjects. Other studies showed that washing hands with a mild soap and water for 20 s was more effective than applying a 70% alcohol hand sanitizer.

Animals↗

Efficacy and reproducibility of a produce wash in killing Salmonella on the surface of tomatoes assessed with a proposed standard method for produce sanitizers.

The reproducibility of a method developed to evaluate point-of-use sanitizers for fresh produce was tested at three different laboratories. Mixtures of five Salmonella serotypes were inoculated on the surface of ripe tomatoes. After the inoculum was dry, tomatoes were placed inside a plastic bag and sprayed with sterile USP water, Dey and Engley (D/E) neutralizer broth, or a prototype Fit produce wash (PW), an alkaline solution comprised of generally recognized as safe ingredients (water, oleic acid, glycerol, ethanol, potassium hydroxide, sodium bicarbonate, citric acid, and distilled grapefruit oil), and rubbed for 30 s. The tomatoes were rinsed 10 s with 195 ml of D/E neutralizer broth (rinse solution), then combined with 20 ml of D/E neutralizer (residual wash solution) and rubbed by hand to remove residual Salmonella. Populations of Salmonella were determined for each tomato in the rinse solution and residual wash solution. Treatment with PW resulted in reductions in the number of Salmonella 2 to 4 logs greater than those achieved with the sterile water or D/E neutralizer broth controls. Consistent results were obtained across the three study sites, indicating reproducible results were obtained using the test method. The method used to determine the efficacy of killing or removing Salmonella from tomatoes in this study is suggested as a standard method for measuring the efficacy of sanitizers on tomatoes and other similar fruits and vegetables with rigid, smooth surfaces.

Colony Count, Microbial↗

Standardization of a method to determine the efficacy of sanitizers in inactivating human pathogenic microorganisms on raw fruits and vegetables.

The efficacy of sanitizers in killing human pathogenic microorganisms on a wide range of whole and fresh-cut fruits and vegetables has been studied extensively. Numerous challenge studies to determine the effects of storage conditions on survival and growth of pathogens on raw produce have also been reported. Results of these studies are often difficult to assess because of the lack of sufficient reporting of methods or, comparatively, because of variations in procedures for preparing and applying inocula to produce, conditions for treatment and storage, and procedures for enumerating pathogens. There is a need for a standard method to accurately determine the presence and populations of pathogenic microorganisms on produce. The adoption of standard, well-characterized reference strains would benefit a comparative assessment of a basic method among laboratories. A single protocol will not be suitable for all fruits and vegetables. Modifications of a basic method will be necessary to achieve maximum recovery of pathogens on various types of produce subjected to different sanitizer or storage treatments. This article discusses parameters that must be considered in the course of developing a basic standard method against which these modifications could be made.

Anti-Bacterial Agents↗