**Copper Alloy Bacterial Contamination Reduction Test**.pdf

Test Method: Efficacy testing of copper alloy surfaces against bacterial contamination.

Test Organisms:
- Staphylococcus aureus (ATCC 6538)
- Enterobacter aerogenes (ATCC 13048)
- Pseudomonas aeruginosa (ATCC 15442)
- Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) (ATCC 33592)
- Escherichia coli O157:H7 (ATCC 35150)

Required Testing:
- Initial testing against S. aureus (ATCC 6538) and E. aerogenes (ATCC 13048) for non-food contact sanitizers.
- Additional organisms and claims (residual self-sanitizing activity and continuous reduction) require initial efficacy testing against S. aureus and E. aerogenes.

Test System:
- Copper alloy and stainless steel carriers (1" x 1") as test and control surfaces, respectively.
- Five test carriers per material per organism per time point.

Organism Preparation:
- Incubation, subculturing, and addition of organic soil load (5% fetal bovine serum and 0.01% Triton X-100) for each organism.

Antimicrobial Susceptibility Testing (if applicable):
- Required for resistant organisms, using oxacillin disc and Mueller Hinton agar.

Inoculation and Recovery:
- Inoculate carriers at staggered intervals, dry, and re-inoculate at specific times.
- Remove carriers for quantitative recovery at 2, 6, 12, 18, and 24 hours, neutralize, and subculture.

Incubation and Observation:
- Incubate plates at specific temperatures for 48±4 hours, enumerate colonies, and confirm test organism presence.

Study Controls:
- Purity, organic soil sterility, carrier sterility, neutralizing subculture medium sterility, viability, and neutralization confirmation controls.