Lab #1: The Effectiveness of Antibacterial liquid hand soap VS.

Antibacterial Hand
Sanitizer (Hand Washing Lab)
Partners: Clara Campolina
Experiment conducted: 9-11-17
 The Effectiveness of Liquid Soap vs. Hand Sanitizer
Introduction
About 1.8 million children under the age of 5 die each year from diarrheal diseases and
pneumonia, the top two killers of young children around the world. Hand Washing could protect
about 1 out of every 3 young children who get sick with diarrhea and almost 1 out of 5 young
children with respiratory infections like pneumonia. To prevent these outbreaks it is essential to
know what is more effective, hand sanitizer or liquid soap. Both products that state they kill
99.9% germs were put to the test through colonial growth observation; The purpose of this
experiment is to determine how successful the products were in the elimination of bacteria.
Antibacterial liquid soap would be more effective than antibacterial hand sanitizer. Reference the
Material Safety Data Sheet in the reference section at the bottom for further information.

Materials
● 2 Petri dishes with Nutrients agar
● 4 sterile cotton swabs
● Dial antibacterial liquid soap
● Markers market hand sanitizer
● Incubator
● Water
● Paper towels
● Timer
● Sharpie
● Tape (optional)

Experimental Variable: The products used to wash hands, Dial antibacterial hand soap,
Markers Market hand sanitizer

Control Variable: Time (1 minute), amount of soap used (a quarter amount), period in incubator
(37 degrees Celsius for 48 hours), bacteria on hands prior to experiment.

Procedures:
1. Wash hands thoroughly for about a minute with soap and water, then dry hands with a
paper towel.
2. Touch the objects around the room (like a phone, pencil, notebook, etc.) do this for about
15 minutes.
3. Grab an agar plate and with a sharpie divide the petri dish in half. Label one side
“experimental and the other side “control”.
4. Grab a sterile swab and gently press the swab on the palm, fingerprints, underneath the
nails, and in the middle of the fingers.
5. Take the swab and gently in a circular motion rub the swab on the agar in three different
spots on the side labeled “control.”
 6. Get a quarter sized amount of hand sanitizer and have the lab partner with the
stopwatch time for about a minute while the other partner rubs hand sanitizer all over the
hands.
7. Then again take a sterile swab and rub it all over the hands and gently make three
samples on the side labeled “experimental”.
8. Repeat this process again with the lab partner who did not use the hand sanitizer, but
this time use a quarter sized amount of antibacterial liquid soap.
9. Place the petri dish in the incubator for 48 hours at 37 degrees celsius.
10. To prevent the lid of the petri dish from falling, place tape on the lid and the dish
(optional).
11. Clean up the area and place all materials in the proper area.

Results
Surprisingly, both products turned out to be effective with a 1-1 ratio (both had no colonies of
bacteria in experimental). The petri dish with the results for antibacterial hand sanitizer had a
colony of bacteria form but it was not on the inoculated streak on the experimental side of
nutrient agar media, and therefore did not count as part of the results. With the antibacterial
liquid soap there were three different colonies identified on the “control” side. The first was
medium faded with a gloss- like look and a creamy texture. The second was a small dull off-
white with a creamy texture. The third was a small bright white with a gloss like look and a
softer, creamier texture. All three were symmetrically circular and had a flat shape. The control
for the antibacterial hand sanitizer was astonishing, in the control there was only one colony of
bacteria, it was a small cream white with a dull appearance and a flat surface with a cream, soft
texture.
Control Experimental
# of diff. types # of Colonies # of diff. types # of colonies
Liquid Soap 3 About 55 0 0

Hand sanitizer 1 1 0 0

Discussion
The results were surprising as they are equally effective. It was expected that the liquid soap
would be more effective but it actually turned out that both are effective. The surprising part was
the bacterial colonies found on the “control” side on both petri dishes varied extremely. The petri
dish for liquid soap contained about 55 different colonies while on the dish for hand sanitizer
only contained one. There are two explanations, firstly inadequate amount of time to regain
normal flora after washing hands or the fact that there were two sets of hands each which could
contain more germs because of rough skin, arches, and even callus. In fact researchers found
that bacteria that cause vomiting and diarrhea are often found under people's fingernails, this
could be the reason there is a skew in the results. The set of hands with longer nails is the
reason for the increase number of colonies. The cause of the error is the hotspots used in this
experiment, for example the set of hands with longer fingernails were able to pick up plenty of
more bacteria than the hands with short nails. In the experiment the hotspots could not be
constant for any two hands. With this evidence provided it is actually the liquid soap that was
more effective, it is evident that the liquid soap was able to eliminate 54 colonies while the
results show that just one colony was eliminated by the hand sanitizer. To achieve better results
next time, it would be better to pinpoint exact hotspot locations as well as have multiple trials for
accuracy. Furthermore, the purpose of this experiment is to determine how successful the
products were in the elimination of bacteria. The purpose was achieved as the results reveal
both products eliminate the same amount of bacteria.

Figure 2.1 Microbial Hotspots

Conclusion
This experiment proved both products that state to kill 99.99% of germs, are in fact able to kill
about 99.99% bacteria colonies, and therefore when examining the comparison between the
two products, both are effective. Using this experiment it is evident how crucial it is to wash
hands, it can save about 1.8 million children under the age of 5 who die each year from
diarrheal diseases and pneumonia. Hand Washing could protect about 1 out of every 3 young
children who get sick with diarrhea and almost 1 out of 5 young children with respiratory
infections like pneumonia.

Reference
Handwashing: Clean Hands Save Lives. (2015, November 18). Retrieved September 13, 2017,
from http://www.cdc.gov/handwashing/why-handwashing.html

(n.d.). Retrieved September 15, 2017, from http://msdsdigital.com/msds-online-search

In regards to
*Soap
*Nutrient Agar
*Rubbing Alcohol
*Bunsen Burner

Jio, Sarah. “5 Frightening Truths About the Germs Under Your Fingernails (and His!).” Glamour, Glamour
Magazine, 12 Jan. 2016, www.glamour.com/story/5-frightening-truths-about-the-1.