So when it comes to the chemicals that are used to control microbial growth, it turns out that there are many chemical agents that can be used for controlling microbial growth. And these chemicals can be grouped as being either liquid chemicals or gas chemicals. Now these chemicals that are used to control microbial growth are going to be able to kill microbes by irreversibly reacting with proteins, DNA, and the plasma membrane. And by interacting and reacting with those molecules, they can inactivate them and prevent them from doing their normal function. And so this is how chemicals can be used to control microbial growth. Now, below what we're showing you is a map of our lesson or our outline of the lesson moving forward in our course on the chemicals that are used for controlling microbial growth. And notice that our lesson is broken up into 2 parts, the left part over here and this right part over here. And so the left part is referring specifically to liquid chemicals. And the right part over here is specifically referring to gaseous chemicals or gas chemicals. Now moving forward in our course, we're going to be following the leftmost branches first. So we'll talk about the liquid chemicals first. And then after we talk about the liquid chemicals, we'll move on and talk about the gas chemicals at the end. And so the liquid chemicals as you can see here in our map include alcohols, aldehydes, biguanides, halogens such as chlorine and iodine, surfactants such as soaps, detergents, and quats, as well as heavy metals, phenolics, and peroxygens. And we will cover each of these liquid chemicals in more detail moving forward in our course by, again, following these branches from left to right. And then the gaseous chemicals that we're going to talk about moving forward include ethylene oxide, formaldehyde, and ozone. And so this here concludes our brief introduction to the chemicals that are used to control microbial growth. And once again, moving forward in our course, we'll get to talk a lot more about each of these different chemicals that are shown. So I'll see you all in our next video.
- 1. Introduction to Microbiology3h 21m
- Introduction to Microbiology16m
- Introduction to Taxonomy26m
- Scientific Naming of Organisms9m
- Members of the Bacterial World10m
- Introduction to Bacteria9m
- Introduction to Archaea10m
- Introduction to Eukarya20m
- Acellular Infectious Agents: Viruses, Viroids & Prions19m
- Importance of Microorganisms20m
- Scientific Method27m
- Experimental Design30m
- 2. Disproving Spontaneous Generation1h 18m
- 3. Chemical Principles of Microbiology3h 38m
- 4. Water1h 28m
- 5. Molecules of Microbiology2h 23m
- 6. Cell Membrane & Transport3h 28m
- Cell Envelope & Biological Membranes12m
- Bacterial & Eukaryotic Cell Membranes8m
- Archaeal Cell Membranes18m
- Types of Membrane Proteins8m
- Concentration Gradients and Diffusion9m
- Introduction to Membrane Transport14m
- Passive vs. Active Transport13m
- Osmosis33m
- Simple and Facilitated Diffusion17m
- Active Transport30m
- ABC Transporters11m
- Group Translocation7m
- Types of Small Molecule Transport Review9m
- Endocytosis and Exocytosis15m
- 7. Prokaryotic Cell Structures & Functions5h 52m
- Prokaryotic & Eukaryotic Cells26m
- Binary Fission11m
- Generation Times16m
- Bacterial Cell Morphology & Arrangements35m
- Overview of Prokaryotic Cell Structure10m
- Introduction to Bacterial Cell Walls26m
- Gram-Positive Cell Walls11m
- Gram-Negative Cell Walls20m
- Gram-Positive vs. Gram-Negative Cell Walls11m
- The Glycocalyx: Capsules & Slime Layers12m
- Introduction to Biofilms6m
- Pili18m
- Fimbriae & Hami7m
- Introduction to Prokaryotic Flagella12m
- Prokaryotic Flagellar Structure18m
- Prokaryotic Flagellar Movement11m
- Proton Motive Force Drives Flagellar Motility5m
- Chemotaxis14m
- Review of Prokaryotic Surface Structures8m
- Prokaryotic Ribosomes16m
- Introduction to Bacterial Plasmids13m
- Cell Inclusions9m
- Endospores16m
- Sporulation5m
- Germination5m
- 8. Eukaryotic Cell Structures & Functions2h 18m
- 9. Microscopes2h 46m
- Introduction to Microscopes8m
- Magnification, Resolution, & Contrast10m
- Introduction to Light Microscopy5m
- Light Microscopy: Bright-Field Microscopes23m
- Light Microscopes that Increase Contrast16m
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- Electron Microscopes14m
- Reviewing the Different Types of Microscopes10m
- Introduction to Staining5m
- Simple Staining14m
- Differential Staining6m
- Other Types of Staining11m
- Reviewing the Types of Staining8m
- Gram Stain13m
- 10. Dynamics of Microbial Growth4h 36m
- Biofilms16m
- Growing a Pure Culture5m
- Microbial Growth Curves in a Closed System21m
- Temperature Requirements for Microbial Growth18m
- Oxygen Requirements for Microbial Growth22m
- pH Requirements for Microbial Growth8m
- Osmolarity Factors for Microbial Growth14m
- Reviewing the Environmental Factors of Microbial Growth12m
- Nutritional Factors of Microbial Growth30m
- Growth Factors4m
- Introduction to Cultivating Microbial Growth5m
- Types of Solid Culture Media4m
- Plating Methods16m
- Measuring Growth by Direct Cell Counts9m
- Measuring Growth by Plate Counts14m
- Measuring Growth by Membrane Filtration6m
- Measuring Growth by Biomass15m
- Introduction to the Types of Culture Media5m
- Chemically Defined Media3m
- Complex Media4m
- Selective Media5m
- Differential Media9m
- Reducing Media4m
- Enrichment Media7m
- Reviewing the Types of Culture Media8m
- 11. Controlling Microbial Growth4h 10m
- Introduction to Controlling Microbial Growth29m
- Selecting a Method to Control Microbial Growth44m
- Physical Methods to Control Microbial Growth49m
- Review of Physical Methods to Control Microbial Growth7m
- Chemical Methods to Control Microbial Growth16m
- Chemicals Used to Control Microbial Growth6m
- Liquid Chemicals: Alcohols, Aldehydes, & Biguanides15m
- Liquid Chemicals: Halogens12m
- Liquid Chemicals: Surface-Active Agents17m
- Other Types of Liquid Chemicals14m
- Chemical Gases: Ethylene Oxide, Ozone, & Formaldehyde13m
- Review of Chemicals Used to Control Microbial Growth11m
- Chemical Preservation of Perishable Products10m
- 12. Microbial Metabolism5h 16m
- Introduction to Energy15m
- Laws of Thermodynamics15m
- Chemical Reactions9m
- ATP20m
- Enzymes14m
- Enzyme Activation Energy9m
- Enzyme Binding Factors9m
- Enzyme Inhibition10m
- Introduction to Metabolism8m
- Negative & Positive Feedback7m
- Redox Reactions22m
- Introduction to Aerobic Cellular Respiration25m
- Types of Phosphorylation12m
- Glycolysis19m
- Entner-Doudoroff Pathway11m
- Pentose-Phosphate Pathway10m
- Pyruvate Oxidation8m
- Krebs Cycle16m
- Electron Transport Chain19m
- Chemiosmosis7m
- Review of Aerobic Cellular Respiration19m
- Fermentation & Anaerobic Respiration23m
- 13. Photosynthesis2h 31m
- 14. DNA Replication2h 25m
- 15. Central Dogma & Gene Regulation7h 14m
- Central Dogma7m
- Introduction to Transcription20m
- Steps of Transcription22m
- Transcription Termination in Prokaryotes7m
- Eukaryotic RNA Processing and Splicing20m
- Introduction to Types of RNA9m
- Genetic Code25m
- Introduction to Translation30m
- Steps of Translation23m
- Review of Transcription vs. Translation12m
- Prokaryotic Gene Expression21m
- Review of Prokaryotic vs. Eukaryotic Gene Expression13m
- Introduction to Regulation of Gene Expression13m
- Prokaryotic Gene Regulation via Operons27m
- The Lac Operon21m
- Glucose's Impact on Lac Operon25m
- The Trp Operon20m
- Review of the Lac Operon & Trp Operon11m
- Introduction to Eukaryotic Gene Regulation9m
- Eukaryotic Chromatin Modifications16m
- Eukaryotic Transcriptional Control22m
- Eukaryotic Post-Transcriptional Regulation28m
- Post-Translational Modification6m
- Eukaryotic Post-Translational Regulation13m
- 16. Microbial Genetics4h 44m
- Introduction to Microbial Genetics11m
- Introduction to Mutations20m
- Methods of Inducing Mutations15m
- Prototrophs vs. Auxotrophs13m
- Mutant Detection25m
- The Ames Test14m
- Introduction to DNA Repair5m
- DNA Repair Mechanisms37m
- Horizontal Gene Transfer18m
- Bacterial Transformation11m
- Transduction32m
- Introduction to Conjugation6m
- Conjugation: F Plasmids18m
- Conjugation: Hfr & F' Cells19m
- Genome Variability21m
- CRISPR CAS11m
- 17. Biotechnology3h 0m
- 18. Viruses, Viroids, & Prions4h 56m
- Introduction to Viruses20m
- Introduction to Bacteriophage Infections14m
- Bacteriophage: Lytic Phage Infections12m
- Bacteriophage: Lysogenic Phage Infections17m
- Bacteriophage: Filamentous Phage Infections8m
- Plaque Assays9m
- Introduction to Animal Virus Infections10m
- Animal Viruses: 1. Attachment to the Host Cell7m
- Animal Viruses: 2. Entry & Uncoating in the Host Cell19m
- Animal Viruses: 3. Synthesis & Replication22m
- Animal Viruses: DNA Virus Synthesis & Replication14m
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- Animal Viruses: Antigenic Drift vs. Antigenic Shift9m
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- Animal Viruses: 4. Assembly Inside Host Cell8m
- Animal Viruses: 5. Release from Host Cell15m
- Acute vs. Persistent Viral Infections25m
- COVID-19 (SARS-CoV-2)14m
- Plant Viruses12m
- Viroids6m
- Prions13m
- 19. Innate Immunity7h 15m
- Introduction to Immunity8m
- Introduction to Innate Immunity17m
- Introduction to First-Line Defenses5m
- Physical Barriers in First-Line Defenses: Skin13m
- Physical Barriers in First-Line Defenses: Mucous Membrane9m
- First-Line Defenses: Chemical Barriers24m
- First-Line Defenses: Normal Microflora5m
- Introduction to Cells of the Immune System15m
- Cells of the Immune System: Granulocytes29m
- Cells of the Immune System: Agranulocytes25m
- Introduction to Cell Communication5m
- Cell Communication: Surface Receptors & Adhesion Molecules16m
- Cell Communication: Cytokines27m
- Pattern Recognition Receptors (PRRs)45m
- Introduction to the Complement System24m
- Activation Pathways of the Complement System23m
- Effects of the Complement System23m
- Review of the Complement System12m
- Phagoctytosis21m
- Introduction to Inflammation18m
- Steps of the Inflammatory Response26m
- Fever8m
- Interferon Response25m
- 20. Adaptive Immunity7h 14m
- Introduction to Adaptive Immunity32m
- Antigens12m
- Introduction to T Lymphocytes38m
- Major Histocompatibility Complex Molecules20m
- Activation of T Lymphocytes21m
- Functions of T Lymphocytes25m
- Review of Cytotoxic vs Helper T Cells13m
- Introduction to B Lymphocytes27m
- Antibodies14m
- Classes of Antibodies35m
- Outcomes of Antibody Binding to Antigen15m
- T Dependent & T Independent Antigens21m
- Clonal Selection20m
- Antibody Class Switching17m
- Affinity Maturation14m
- Primary and Secondary Response of Adaptive Immunity21m
- Immune Tolerance28m
- Regulatory T Cells10m
- Natural Killer Cells16m
- Review of Adaptive Immunity25m
- 21. Principles of Disease6h 57m
- Symbiotic Relationships12m
- The Human Microbiome46m
- Characteristics of Infectious Disease47m
- Stages of Infectious Disease Progression26m
- Koch's Postulates26m
- Molecular Koch's Postulates11m
- Bacterial Pathogenesis36m
- Introduction to Pathogenic Toxins6m
- Exotoxins Cause Damage to the Host40m
- Endotoxin Causes Damage to the Host13m
- Exotoxins vs. Endotoxin Review13m
- Immune Response Damage to the Host15m
- Introduction to Avoiding Host Defense Mechanisms8m
- 1) Hide Within Host Cells5m
- 2) Avoiding Phagocytosis31m
- 3) Surviving Inside Phagocytic Cells10m
- 4) Avoiding Complement System9m
- 5) Avoiding Antibodies25m
- Viruses Evade the Immune Response27m
Chemicals Used to Control Microbial Growth - Online Tutor, Practice Problems & Exam Prep
Chemical agents for controlling microbial growth can be categorized into liquid and gaseous forms. Liquid agents include alcohols, aldehydes, halogens, and surfactants, while gaseous agents consist of ethylene oxide and formaldehyde. Their effectiveness is influenced by concentration, exposure time, temperature, and the presence of interfering chemicals. Understanding these factors is crucial for optimizing disinfection and sterilization processes, ensuring that microbial control is both effective and safe.
Chemicals Used to Control Microbial Growth
Video transcript
Which of the following chemical agents is a gas?
Factors Affecting Chemical Agents
Video transcript
In this video, we're going to talk about some factors affecting chemical agents that are used for controlling microbial growth. It turns out that the effectiveness of these chemical agents actually depends on multiple factors. Below we have a table listing some of these factors affecting these chemical agents. The first factor listed here is the concentration of the chemical agent being used. Some chemicals are effective when they are diluted. Diluting these chemical agents can be an important thing to do before using these chemical agents. Also, some chemical agents are going to be extremely toxic at high concentrations, which means that using diluted chemical agents can also be favorable. The actual concentration of the chemical agent can differentiate a disinfecting procedure versus a sterilization procedure.
Another important factor that affects the chemical agents is the exposure time, which is really just how long the microbes are exposed to the chemical agent, whether they are exposed for a short period or a long period. Some chemicals require really long exposure times and are less but still effective at shorter times. The exact exposure time will be an important factor to consider because it can greatly affect these chemical agents.
The third factor we have listed here is the temperature. Some chemicals have an optimal temperature at which they work best. If the temperature is too cold or too hot, it may prevent these chemical agents from being effective. The temperature is an important factor affecting these chemical agents.
The last factor we have here is the interfering chemicals because sometimes these chemical agents will react with other chemicals. Some chemicals may not be compatible with each other because they may react with each other. When they react with each other, they may inactivate one another, which means that these chemical agents can be affected by these other interfering chemicals. This is something that needs to be taken into account when a scientist is trying to determine the effectiveness of the chemical agent.
This concludes our brief lesson on some of the factors affecting these chemical agents that are used for controlling microbial growth. We'll be able to get some practice applying these concepts as we move forward in our course. So, I'll see you all in our next video.
Do you want more practice?
Here’s what students ask on this topic:
What are the main types of chemicals used to control microbial growth?
The main types of chemicals used to control microbial growth can be categorized into liquid and gaseous forms. Liquid chemicals include alcohols, aldehydes, biguanides, halogens (such as chlorine and iodine), surfactants (such as soaps, detergents, and quats), heavy metals, phenolics, and peroxygens. Gaseous chemicals include ethylene oxide, formaldehyde, and ozone. These chemicals work by irreversibly reacting with proteins, DNA, and the plasma membrane of microbes, thereby inactivating them and preventing their normal function. Understanding these categories helps in selecting the appropriate chemical for specific microbial control needs.
How do concentration and exposure time affect the effectiveness of chemical agents in controlling microbial growth?
The concentration of a chemical agent is crucial as some chemicals are effective when diluted, while others are toxic at high concentrations. The concentration can also differentiate between disinfection and sterilization procedures. Exposure time, or the duration for which microbes are exposed to the chemical agent, is another critical factor. Some chemicals require long exposure times to be effective, while others can work in shorter periods. Both concentration and exposure time must be optimized to ensure the chemical agent effectively controls microbial growth without causing harm or being inefficient.
What are the factors affecting the effectiveness of chemical agents used for microbial control?
The effectiveness of chemical agents used for microbial control is influenced by several factors: 1) Concentration: Some chemicals are effective when diluted, while others are toxic at high concentrations. 2) Exposure Time: The duration for which microbes are exposed to the chemical agent affects its efficacy. 3) Temperature: Chemicals have an optimal temperature range where they work best; too hot or too cold temperatures can reduce their effectiveness. 4) Interfering Chemicals: Some chemicals may react with others, inactivating each other and reducing their effectiveness. Understanding these factors is essential for optimizing microbial control processes.
What are the differences between liquid and gaseous chemical agents used for microbial control?
Liquid chemical agents include alcohols, aldehydes, biguanides, halogens (chlorine and iodine), surfactants (soaps, detergents, and quats), heavy metals, phenolics, and peroxygens. These agents are typically applied directly to surfaces or used in solutions. Gaseous chemical agents, such as ethylene oxide, formaldehyde, and ozone, are used in their gaseous state and are often employed for sterilizing equipment and spaces where liquid application is impractical. The choice between liquid and gaseous agents depends on the application context, the type of microbes targeted, and the specific requirements of the disinfection or sterilization process.
Why is it important to consider interfering chemicals when using chemical agents for microbial control?
Interfering chemicals can react with the chemical agents used for microbial control, potentially inactivating them and reducing their effectiveness. This interaction can occur when multiple chemicals are used simultaneously or when residues of other chemicals are present. For example, certain surfactants may react with disinfectants, rendering them less effective. Therefore, it is crucial to consider the presence of interfering chemicals to ensure that the chosen chemical agent can function optimally and achieve the desired level of microbial control without unintended interactions.
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