Bactericidal and Sporicidal Activities against Pathogenic Bacteria of Direct Flow Electrolyzed Water

The purpose of this investigation was to examine the bactericidal activity of long lifetime ozone water (LLO water) against pathogenic bacteria of medical, veterinary, and public health interest. An electrolytic system using Pt mesh electrodes combined with a conventional polymer electrolyte, the Nafion 117 membrane, produced LLO water from tap water with high efficiency. LLO water killed 7.144 ± 0.0507 log10 CFU of Escherichia coli O157:H7, 6.979 ± 0.045 log10 CFU of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, 6.503 ± 0.3681 log 10 CFU of Pseudomonas aeruginosa and 6.579 ± 0.123 log 10 CFU of Legionella pneumophila within one minute. In contrast, endospores of Bacillus anthracis were killed within 20 min. Results of observation of the bactericidal activity of LLO by using an electron microscope, it was revealed that LLO water was shown the bactericidal action by swelling and destroying on the cell wall of the bacterial cells. Our studies demonstrated that LLO water has the potential to be widely applicable in food hygiene, medicine and veterinary medicine as a sterilizing agent. This is the first study to demonstrate the bactericidal activity and characteristics of LLO water.