Selection of inactivation medium for fungal spores in clinical wastes by supercritical carbon dioxide

Abstract

The present study aimed to select the best medium for inactivation of Aspergillus fumigatus, Aspergillus spp. in section Nigri, A. niger, A. terreus var. terreus, A. tubingensis, Penicillium waksmanii, P. simplicissimum, and Aspergillus sp. strain no. 145 spores in clinical wastes by using supercritical carbon dioxide (SC-CO₂). There were three types of solutions used including normal saline, seawater, distilled water, and physiological saline with 1% of methanol; each solution was tested at 5, 10, and 20 mL of the water contents. The experiments were conducted at the optimum operating parameters of supercritical carbon dioxide (30 MPa, 75 °C, 90 min). The results showed that the inactivation rate was more effective in distilled water with the presence of 1% methanol (6 log reductions). Meanwhile, the seawater decreases inactivation rate more than normal saline (4.5 vs. 5.1 log reduction). On the other hand, the experiments performed with different volumes of distilled water (5, 10, and 20 mL) indicated that A. niger spores were completely inactivated with 10 mL of distilled water. The inactivation rate of fungal spores decreased from 6 to 4.5 log as the amount of distilled water increased from 10 to 20 mL. The analysis for the spore morphology of A. fumigatus and Aspergillus spp. in section Nigri using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) has revealed the role of temperature and pressure in the SC-CO₂ in the destruction of the cell walls of the spores. It can be concluded that the distilled water represent the best medium for inactivation of fungal spores in the clinical solid wastes by SC-CO₂.