Variation of"How Well Do Disinfectants Work" with

[sunn]

HI!
I'd like to do an experiment with essential oils that are thought to be aniti-bacterial in nature and I was looking at your sample on Science Buddies titled "How Well Do Disinfectants Work?" If I used essential oils instead of the chemical disinfectants, do you think that would work or is that too simple, especially for a sixth grader? To be honest, I have never done any of this type of thing, so the other methods might be a little too confusing. thanks for any suggestions.

[nicolerumore]

Here's some information I found:
"Disinfectant and sanitizing compositions based on essential oils:
The present invention provides an aqueous antimicrobial composition containing one or more essential oils which exhibit antimicrobial properties and which can be combined with a water carrier and a solubilizing or dispersing agent to form a solution or a dispersion of the essential oil in the water carrier, said essential oil exhibiting antimicrobial properties when incorporated in said water carrier." - http://www.freepatentsonline.com/5403587.html

This sounds like an interesting topic, especially since using essential oils as disinfectants has been patented. It is a topic that has been studied, but you could do your own version of this idea by experimenting with the effectiveness and usability of different essential oils vs. each other. You could even experiment with essential oils vs. other substances for their effectiveness in disinfecting.

I also found this information which may be of interest:
"Some herbal essential oils, such as tea tree oil and grapefruit seed extract, are said to have antimicrobial effects, but their efficacy has yet to be established." - http://www.checnet.org/healtheHouse/edu ... ain_ID=122

You will probably want to do some research on WHICH essential oils are the best to use for this purpose, other than and including those mentioned.

Hope it helps!

[sunn]

Thanks for the info. What would be the best way for a novice to test the effectiveness of essential oil on bacteria? Could I spread some contaminant on a cutting board and section it off, then...What do ! do from there? Thanks!

[Sareena Avadhany]

Hi sunn,

Your project is really interesting. Why don't you check the post: Positive and Negative controls, as well as the Mouth Microbes thread. That should definitely give you some ideas.

A website called PubMed provides the public with abstracts and full published in journals. This abstract is about testing anti-bacterial activity in a variety of plants.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/quer ... t=Abstract

If you don't understand some of the terminology, then you can post your questions here, and I can help you out as best as I can, or another expert will answer your question.

When you are starting a science fair project, it is always good to know why you want to do it. So the first question you should ask yourself is: why do I want to study the effectiveness of essential oil on bacteria? For example, I recently read an article where a student's granfather died from water contamination in India, and created an organization that helps to reduce contamination of water in India. His interest was not only genuine, but it also had connections to his family and culture. He ended up receiving many awards for his efforts. If your interest is genuine, it really doesn't matter if the project is complicated or simple. Your project can be extremely useful if you know the applicability of what you want to do. Judges at science fairs really want to know the 'why' and 'impact' factor behind your project. Working with bacteria can be extremely dangerous, so please make sure you are working with adult supervision, and definitely someone who is familiar with working with bacteria.

I hope this helps.

Sincerely,
Sareena