Effect of ionization on microbial air pollution in the dental clinic

Jacob Gabbay*, Orna Bergerson, Nissim Levi, Shmuel Brenner, Ilana Eli

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

26 Scopus citations

Abstract

The use of spray-producing instruments in the dental clinic continuously creates a potentially harmful contamination of the room environment. In the present study a 13.5-kV corona discharge ionizing generator was used in order to investigate the effect of ions on the microbial air pollution of the dental clinic. Samples of microbial air population were collected in 9-cm-diameter plates containing either Bacto-Brain Heart Infusion Agar or Bacto-Mitis Salivarius Agar and exposed to different time periods in various locations of an active dental clinic. Microbial air levels in the dental clinic were significantly reduced with the generator (by 40-50%). The data suggest that the ionizing generator can be used to reduce the microbial air pollution within the dental clinic, thus reducing the environmental hazard of infections to the staff.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)99-106
Number of pages8
JournalEnvironmental Research
Volume52
Issue number1
DOIs
StatePublished - Jun 1990

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