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H1N1 Virus Can Be Killed by Acidic Ozone WaterNovember 2009
Scientists
have found that acidic ozone water can effectively kill H1N1 viruses,
with the advantages that it leaves no environmentally harmful residue
and is inexpensive to prepare.
Scientists have found that acidic ozone water can deactivate H1N1
viruses very effectively, offering a promising disinfectant for the
millions of people trying to avoid the disease. Acidic ozone water
(AOW) is made from regular tap water mixed with a small amount of acid
such as hydrochloric acid, along with an ozonized gas that can be
produced in the lab. After deactivating the virus, the substance
eventually decays into plain water, leaving no residue or harmful
materials in the environment.
Scientists Han Uhm of Ajou University in Korea, along with Kwang Lee
and Baik Seong of Yonsei University in Korea, have published the
results of their study on the H1N1 disinfectant in a recent issue of Applied
Physics Letters.
Besides being environmentally benign, AOW also has the advantage that
it may cost significantly less to prepare compared with chemical
disinfectants.
During the past several months, H1N1 has infected thousands of
people worldwide and has proven to be a highly contagious disease.
Attempts to combat the disease have included preventative vaccines and
the use of disinfectants to prevent the spread of the disease. However,
most of these disinfectants have chemicals that can harm the
environment.
In the current study, the researchers found that they could make
neutral water acidic by mixing a very small amount of hydrochloric acid
into the water. Adding just 22 grams of hydrochloric acid to one ton of
neutral water can change the pH value of the water from 7 to 4. As the
scientists explain, the negative chlorine ions have a sterilizing
effect on viruses, and a strong acidity in general also has a
sterilizing effect.
Although acidic water itself can partially inactivate the H1N1
virus, the scientists also added an ozone gas concentration of more
than 10 mg/liter to the water to enhance the sterilization effect. All the
viruses were killed after five minutes of mixing the
acidic ozone water with about 430,000 viruses in the environment.
When observing the number of viruses killed in a given time, the
researchers found that the acidic ozone water had a synergic effect,
outperforming the sum of the individual effects of acidic water and
ozone water. Part of the reason for the enhanced sterilization is that,
while ozone decays over time due to impurities, the acidification of
water slows the decay, prolonging the time of disinfection.
In another experiment, the researchers found that E. coli cells treated with
acidic ozone water at pH 4 and an ozone
concentration of 20 mg/liter destroyed the cell envelopes. Based on
this observation, the scientists speculate that acidic ozone water may
work by destroying the H1N1 virus envelopes, disabling their ability to
establish an infection
“Most of the virus inactivation experiments in our lab have been conducted
using the host cells for viruses,” Uhm toldPhysOrg.com.
“The host cells used were the cells from advanced animals like green
monkey kidney cells, human cells, or egg cells. These cells are
breeding well even after the exposure to acidic ozone water. Meanwhile,
the microbe cells are killed very effectively by AOW. I believe that
some kinds of antioxidant in the advanced cells may protect the cells
from ozone attack. But the microbe cells without the antioxidant may be
destroyed by the strong oxidation activity of ozone in AOW.”
Uhm added that the AOW could be used in a variety of areas to avoid the spread
of H1N1.
“AOW may be abundantly available due to its easy preparation,” he
said. “I am not an industrialist, but a scientist. I do not have any
specific plan to make it available by myself, but some capable people
may do. The AOW may be useful in hospitals, in livestock industries, in
dairy farms, in seafood industries, or in agriculture. I initially
studied the AOW for protection of mankind from an attack of bio
weapons.”
More information: Han S. Uhm, Kwang H. Lee, and Baik L. Seong. “Inactivation of
H1N1 viruses exposed to acidic ozone water.” Applied Physics Letters 95, 173704
(2009).By Lisa Zyga, Copyright 2009
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