In this video, we're going to talk about some different situations that warrant different levels of microbial growth control. And so the methods that are used for microbial growth control vary greatly depending on the specific situation and the specific level of microbial growth control that is needed. And so really the most important message that we're trying to communicate in this video is something that may seem pretty obvious. And that is that the control measures that are used on a regular basis at your home may not be adequate enough for a surgery room in a hospital. And so once again, different situations or different scenarios are going to require different levels of microbial growth control. And so down below in our image, we're showing you 5 different situations or scenarios that can require different levels of microbial growth control.
The first situation or scenario is going to be your daily life. And so things like washing, using soaps and detergents, and also cooking and refrigerating foods are all methods to be able to control microbial growth. And so you can see washing hands, and doing laundry with soaps and detergent, and cooking, and refrigerating your foods are all methods that you can use at your home to control microbial growth. However, in a different setting such as a hospital setting, there are going to be different measures to control microbial growth. For example, sterilizing surgical equipment and operating rooms in order to avoid what are known as healthcare-associated infections, or HAIs for short.
Healthcare-associated infections or HAIs are pretty much what they sound like. These are infections that a patient can get in a healthcare setting if the hospital does not control the microbial growth appropriately. And so it's really important for hospitals to make sure that they create a sterile field for surgery in surgery rooms or operating rooms. And, it is also important that they use steam, using instruments such as autoclaves, to sterilize their surgical tools so that they don't accidentally cause a healthcare-associated infection or an HAI in a patient. And so the microbial growth control methods used in a hospital need to be a lot more stringent, a lot more rigid, a lot more powerful than the control methods that you may use in your daily life.
Now another setting that we have here is food production facilities that are going to use physical and chemical methods for food preservation, helping to delay the spoilage of perishable objects such as food products. And so here we're showing you an image of how pasteurization can be used in milk to kill microbes found in milk. And here we're showing you some vegetables that have been irradiated, some fruits and vegetables that have been irradiated or undergone radiation. And so this is a symbol here that represents food that has undergone irradiation. And once again, irradiation may be something that you do not use in your typical daily life. So every scenario may require a different microbial control method.
The fourth one that we have down here is going to be the water treatment facilities, which are going to need to use specific disinfectants, and they will need to disinfect the drinking water to prevent waterborne illnesses. And so here is a water treatment plant in Deer Island. And once again, the microbial control methods that they use in this water treatment plant may be different than the control methods that they use in any of these other situations.
And then last but not least the fifth scenario that we have here are going to be the laboratories. And the laboratories, such as scientific laboratories, microbiology laboratories, biology laboratories, also need to sterilize equipment in many scenarios. They sterilize their equipment and they can use what is known as aseptic technique, which is a set of techniques that help to prevent contamination. And so down below here we're showing you a scientist in a COVID-19 lab studying COVID-19, the virus that causes COVID-19. And they're using PPE or personal protective equipment that protects the scientists. So notice that they have this coat and they're using gloves and they have a mask and goggles. And so these are also ways to help control microbial growth to make sure that it's not being spread into other areas, that it's being contained in a specific region. And then over here what we're showing you is UV light, ultraviolet light, which can be used to help kill microbes in a lab and prevent contamination.
Basically, what we've shown you here are 5 different situations that warrant different levels of microbial growth control. And so that is definitely going to be a consideration in selecting the appropriate control method. And so we'll be able to learn a lot more about selecting a microbial control method as we move forward in our course. But for now, this here concludes our lesson and we'll be able to get some practice moving forward. So I'll see you all in our next video.