Antimicrobial effect of sodium acetate and other hygroscopic salts

A cotton textile dried with various hygroscopic salts then contaminated with Staphylococcus epidermidis and dried again, showed remarkable reduction in viable bacterial cells. Of the salts investigated, sodium acetate was found to have the greatest antibacterial effect. Calcium chloride, magnesium chloride and magnesium sulfate, also showed some antibacterial effect. For sodium acetate, drying for 24 h reduced the count of viable cells to 1.5%, and less, relative to the count in the control sample. For the other salts the count of viable cells after drying was more variable and ranged from 0.3% to 44% relative to the count in the control sample. It is inferred that the hygroscopic nature of the salts may enhance the effect of desiccation in killing bacteria during drying. The results indicate that salt-enhanced drying is a new class of sanitizing method warranting further investigation.