Results Discussion & Abstract Lab Report Draft

Abstract

The objective of this laboratory assignment was to assess the effectiveness of antiseptics in fighting bacteria. The sub-objective was to compare the antibacterial efficacy of four antiseptics: Family Guard, ECOS, Lysol H202 Bathroom, and Clorox Healthcare against the Escherichia Coli bacterial isolate. The experiment hypothesized that Clorox Healthcare was the most effective among the four antiseptics in the experiment. The experiment made use of the agar disk diffusion method. The laboratory results showed that generally, the four antiseptics were effective against the E. Coli bacterial isolate. In line with the hypothesis, Clorox Healthcare reported the highest antibacterial efficacy against the E. Coli as measured by the size of its inhibition zone. Larger inhibition sizes indicate that the antiseptic is able to prevent growth of more bacteria and is hence, more effective. Generally, the results showed that antiseptics have different levels of antibacterial efficacy. Consequently, some antiseptics are more potent than others. This is because of differences in formulations and chemical compositions that result in different potency levels. The general conclusion of the laboratory experiment is that antiseptics have high antibacterial efficacy, although their efficacy depends partly on their chemical composition.

2107L Lab Report Draft- Results, Discussion, & Abstract

Results

The laboratory results showed that all the tested antiseptics were effective against the bacterial isolate included in the experiment. However, Clorox reported the highest inhibition as measured by the diameter of its inhibition zone (2.9 centimeters), while ECOS reported the least inhibition with a diameter of 0.7cm. Figure 1 below presents the four antiseptics’ inhibition zone diameters. The larger the diameter of the inhibition zone, the fewer the bacteria that are able to grow, and hence, the greater the antiseptic’s potency. The results indicate that Clorox has the highest antibacterial efficacy, followed closely by Lysol, Family Guard, and finally ECOS. Thus, the results support the hypothesis that Clorox is the most effective of the four antiseptics.

Figure 1: Comparison of Antiseptics’ Measure of antibacterial efficacy

Discussion

The findings of the laboratory experiment indicate that antiseptics are effective against bacteria. In their study, Aminu and Abdullahi (2021) found that both branded and unbranded antiseptics had effective antibacterial activity against different bacterial isolates. The experiment also found that antiseptics have different levels of efficacy against selected bacterial isolates. Hence, some antiseptics are more effective than others in fighting certain bacteria.

The experiment hypothesized that Clorox would be more effective than the other three antiseptics in fighting the E.Coli bacteria. The results supported this hypothesis, with Clorox yielding the largest inhibition zone relative to the other three antiseptics. According to Aminu and Abdullahi (2021), variations in the activity spectrum of antiseptics are caused by differences in formulations and chemical compositions. In their experimental study, the authors evaluated disinfectants’ potency against phenol and concluded that disinfectants with higher phenol coefficient (pc) levels (>0.5%) were more potent than those with lower pc levels (Aminu & Abdullahi, 2021). Studies have shown that Clorox has higher phenol concentration percentage than most surface disinfectants, which explains its antibacterial efficacy (Jalal, 2023).

The primary limitation of the experiment is that it uses a single bacterial isolate to test the effectiveness of antiseptics. This limits the ability to observe how Clorox compares to the other antiseptics in fighting different isolates of bacteria. Future studies could replicate the experiment using a set of different bacterial isolates to see how the antiseptics compare. Aminu and Abdullahi (2021) found that some bacteria were more resistant than others to antiseptics and disinfectants. For instance, gram-negative bacteria such as P. Aeruginosa are more resistant due to their ability to form an outer membrane that limits the uptake of antiseptics. Such resistant bacterial isolates may require higher concentrations of antiseptic or disinfectants since the laboratory results indicate that potency increases with concentration.