Elimination of B. anthracis spores using dielectric barrier discharge plasma

Abstract

We have developed a non-thermal atmospheric pressure dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) plasma setup for effective sterilization of spores on conductive and non-conductive surfaces at room temperature. The DBD plasma system involves a specially modified plasma system that is optimized to effectively destroy pathogenic organisms, particularly Bacillus spores. Metal or dielectric surfaces inoculated with Bacillus cereus spores were treated with the DBD plasma initiated between the treatment unit and these surfaces. Set of experiments was performed on DBD plasma sterilization of Bacillus spores both in dry and wet conditions. We checked the influence of plasma characteristic, gas composition, and type of surface on the sterilization effect of DBD plasma. Experiments were done using Bacillus cereus and Bacillus anthracis spores. The results of the experiments show that DBD plasma treatment permit up to 8 log reduction of spores in less than 1 minute of DBD plasma treatment depending of treatment conditions.