Anti-biofouling efficacy of three home and personal care product preservatives: Pseudomonas aeruginosa biofilm inhibition and prevention

Abstract

Due to increasing water scarcity, it is essential to determine cost-effective and efficient methods of producing potable water, especially ones that utilize non-traditional sources. Although reverse osmosis (RO) shows promise as a key-player in mitigating water scarcity, it is limited by biofouling. It is therefore integral to identify effective antifoulants that also do not damage the membrane, cause resistance, or negatively impact human health and the environment. Potential antifoulants include preservatives used in home and personal care products. It is hypothesized that safer preservatives can be applied to RO systems to remove or prevent biofouling. Three preservatives including methylisothiazolinone (MIT), phenoxyethanol (PE), and sodium benzoate (SB) were tested via antimicrobial susceptibility tests against P. aeruginosa biofilms grown in 96-well plates to investigate both biofilm prevention and biofilm removal. Data were collected in the form of minimum biofilm inhibitory concentration (MBIC) and minimum biofilm eradication concentration (MBEC), respectively. MIT was the most effective of the three preservatives but also poses the highest hazard to human health and the environment. Due to efficacy and safety concerns, MIT, PE, and SB are not the final solution; however, a process was demonstrated for determining the efficacy of novel, safer antifoulants. Ultimately, further investigations into safer antifoulants, paired with a greater understanding of biofilm removal and prevention doses will help make RO a better solution for water scarcity.

Graphical Abstract

Keywords:

• Biofilm
• antifoulant
• antimicrobial susceptibility testing
• safer preservatives

Acknowledgements

The authors thank Ellen Busby and Stephen Redpath for supplying bacteria, Rebecca Hof for providing guidance and lab space and Kurtis Manke for help with coding.

Authors’ contribution

A. M. Curtin developed the protocol with guidance from H. L. Buckley. A. M. Curtin and M. C. Thibodeau performed the laboratory research. A. M. Curtin performed analysis of the results with assistance from M. T. Thibodeau. H. L. Buckley contributed to the interpretation of the results. A. M. Curtin lead manuscript preparation. H. L. Buckley provided feedback and revised the manuscript. H. L. Buckley secured funding for this project.

Disclosure statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Additional information

Funding

This research was funded by Mitacs RTA, the W.E. Cowie Faculty Innovation Award, the IESVic Clean Energy Systems Accelerator Program, EcoCanada SWILP, NSERC USRA (M.C. Thibodeau), the UN Association of Canada Green Spaces Program, NSERC Discovery, CFI JELF, and BCKDF.