This Article Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Reprints and Permissions Copyright Information Books from ASM Press MicrobeWorld Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Abad, F X Articles by Bosch, A Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Abad, F X Articles by Bosch, A Agricola Articles by Abad, F X Articles by Bosch, A

 Previous Article  |  Next Article 

Appl Environ Microbiol. 1994 July; 60(7): 2377-2383

Disinfection of human enteric viruses in water by copper and silver in combination with low levels of chlorine.

Department of Microbiology, University of Barcelona, Spain.

ABSTRACT

The efficacy of copper and silver ions, in combination with low levels of free chlorine (FC), was evaluated for the disinfection of hepatitis A virus (HAV), human rotavirus (HRV), human adenovirus, and poliovirus (PV) in water. HAV and HRV showed little inactivation in all conditions. PV showed more than a 4 log10 titer reduction in the presence of copper and silver combined with 0.5 mg of FC per liter or in the presence of 1 mg of FC per liter alone. Human adenovirus persisted longer than PV with the same treatments, although it persisted significantly less than HRV or HAV. The addition of 700 micrograms of copper and 70 micrograms of silver per liter did not enhance the inactivation rates after the exposure to 0.5 or 0.2 mg of FC per liter, although on some occasions it produced a level of inactivation similar to that induced by a higher dose of FC alone. Virus aggregates were observed in the presence of copper and silver ions, although not in the presence of FC alone. Our data indicate that the use of copper and silver ions in water systems may not provide a reliable alternative to high levels of FC for the disinfection of viral pathogens. Gene probe-based procedures were not adequate to monitor the presence of infectious HAV after disinfection. PV does not appear to be an adequate model viral strain to be used in disinfection studies. Bacteroides fragilis bacteriophages were consistently more resistant to disinfection than PV, suggesting that they would be more suitable indicators, although they survived significantly less than HAV or HRV.

This article has been cited by other articles:

• Caballero, S., Abad, F. X., Loisy, F., Le Guyader, F. S., Cohen, J., Pinto, R. M., Bosch, A. (2004). Rotavirus Virus-Like Particles as Surrogates in Environmental Persistence and Inactivation Studies. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 70: 3904-3909 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Gratacap-Cavallier, B., Genoulaz, O., Brengel-Pesce, K., Soule, H., Innocenti-Francillard, P., Bost, M., Gofti, L., Zmirou, D., Seigneurin, J. M. (2000). Detection of Human and Animal Rotavirus Sequences in Drinking Water. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 66: 2690-2692 [Abstract] [Full Text]