Chemicals Used to Control Microbial Growth

So when it comes to the chemicals that are used to controlling 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, D. N. A. And or 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 group. Now, down 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 two parts, the left part over here and this right part over here. And so the left part is referring specifically to liquid chemicals, uh and the right part over here is specifically referring to gashes chemicals or gas chemicals. Uh Now, moving forward in our course, we're going to be following the left most branches first. So we'll talk about the liquid chemicals first, and then after we talk about the liquid chemicals will 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, Aldo hides, bygone, IEDs, halogen such as chlorine, and iodine, surfactants, such as soaps, detergents, and squats, as well as heavy metals, phenolic sauce. And pour oxygen's. And we will cover each of these liquid chemicals. And more detailed moving forward in our course by again following these branches from left to right. Uh and then the gases, chemicals that we're going to talk about moving forward include ethylene oxide, formaldehyde, and ozone. And so this year 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.

Which of the following chemical agents is a gas? 

• A. Quats.
• B. Alcohols.
• C. Ozone.
• D. Chlorine.

in this video, we're going to talk about some factors affecting chemical agents that are used for controlling microbial growth. And so it turns out that the effectiveness of these chemical agents actually depends on multiple factors. And down below we have a table that's listing some of these factors affecting these chemical agents. And so the very first factor that we have listed here is actually the concentration of the chemical agent that's being used. And so some chemicals are actually effective when they are diluted. And so 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. Also, the actual concentration of the chemical agent can differentiate a disinfecting procedure versus a sterilization procedure. Now, another important factor that affects the chemical agent is actually the exposure time, which is really just how long the microbes are exposed to the chemical agent. Whether they are exposed to the chemical agent for a short period of time, or whether they are exposed to the chemical agent for a long period of time. And so some chemicals require really, really long exposure times and are less but still effective at shorter times. And so the exact exposure time will be an important factor to consider because it can greatly affect these chemical agents. Now, the third factor that we have listed here is actually the temperature. And this is because some chemicals actually have an optimal temperature at which they work best. And so if the temperature is too cold or if the temperature is too hot, then that may affect these chemical agents and may prevent them from being effective. And so the temperature is a really important factor affecting these chemical agents. Now, the last factor that we have here is actually the interfering chemicals because sometimes uh these chemical agents will react with other chemicals and so some chemicals may not be compatible with each other because they may react with each other. And when they react with each other they may n activate one another, which means that these chemical agents can be affected by these other interfering chemicals and that is something that needs to be taken into account when a scientist is trying to determine the effectiveness of the chemical agent. And so this year concludes our brief lesson on some of the factors affecting these chemical agents that are used for controlling microbial growth. And 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.