Ugly ducklings-the dark side of plastic materials in contact with potable water.

ABSTRACT: Bath toys pose an interesting link between flexible plastic materials, potable water, external microbial and nutrient contamination, and potentially vulnerable end-users. Here, we characterized biofilm communities inside 19 bath toys used under real conditions. In addition, some determinants for biofilm formation were assessed, using six identical bath toys under controlled conditions with either clean water prior to bathing or dirty water after bathing. All examined bath toys revealed notable biofilms on their inner surface, with average total bacterial numbers of 5.5 × 10⁶ cells/cm² (clean water controls), 9.5 × 10⁶ cells/cm² (real bath toys), and 7.3 × 10⁷ cells/cm² (dirty water controls). Bacterial community compositions

SUBMITTER: Neu L 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5869678 | biostudies-literature | 2018

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature