The Effect of Silver Infused Clothing on Bacterial Viability

Voiceover

Presenter(s)(s)

Madalyn Fields

Presentation Number

1801

Abstract or Description

Metal based-antimicrobials (MBA) have shown to be effective in reducing cell viability through the release of toxic metal ions. Silver ions are used commercially to inhibit bacteria in a variety of consumer products. Clothing companies attempt to utilize silver's known antimicrobial properties by embedding silver particles directly into their fabrics. This technological advancement has been advertised as creating garments that are "bacteria-resistant" and "odor-free". The purpose of this research is to analyze how effective silver-infused clothing is in disrupting bacterial growth. Using a variety of methods, six different antimicrobial shirts and one cotton shirt were analyzed to assess the validity of the companies claims. The assays measured visual growth which supported the inhibition of bacteria from one fabric. The other fabrics provided little or no evidence to support antimicrobial activity. Growth curves were created to display the mode of action of the silver-infused fabric against Bacillus megaterium. The results reflect that the silver fabric can delay bacterial growth in a dose-dependent fashion. In high doses, the silver fabric displayed bactericidal activity.

Mentor

Lance Shultz

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Comments

Tirth Patel4 years ago

Awesome and unique presentation! I am also doing research in microbiology but never heard of silver ions in clothing inhibiting bacteria. How can we use this method to combat the current antibiotic resistance crisis?

• • 1 comment

Madalyn Fields4 years ago

Thank you! Silver ions use multiple pathways to inhibit bacteria, making it difficult for bacteria to develop resistance. Due to this, silver is used for a variety of medical purposes including medicines and equipment. Continued research in utilizing silver ions and other heavy metals could provide a temporary solution to some areas of antibiotic resistance. However, there have been reports of multimetal resistance and tolerance which could lead to metal ions being less effective in the future.

Tim Mayer4 years ago

This is a really fascinating research.

I'm curious where the different fabric samples came from? Did you manufacture them yourself or are they different commercial products? Do you know what made fabric D significantly different from the other silver treated fabrics; higher silver content or manufacturing process ect...?

• • 3 comments

Madalyn Fields4 years ago

Thank you. We ordered the shirts from a variety of different clothing brands. The companies all advertised their shirts as “silver-infused”. We tried to find the composition of the fabrics, but the companies do not provide much information other than stating that silver nanoparticles are embedded. A next step would be determining the concentration of silver in each fabric sample, which could provide insight on why fabric D provided a different result when compared to the other fabrics.

Tim Mayer4 years ago

Without knowing the processes used to make the fabric, I wonder if perhaps fabric D (or any of the others) had additional antimicrobial substances applied to the product. Is there any easy way to tell if the fabric had any lingering soaps/detergents ect...? Such a striking difference between the fabrics is rather interesting.

Madalyn Fields4 years ago

Silver ion technology was advertised as the only antimicrobial agent in the silver-infused fabrics. Due to the lack of information provided by the clothing companies, it is difficult to determine if there is another variable to the antimicrobial effectiveness of each fabric. The addition of another substance that has antimicrobial properties to the fabric is possible and should be determined. I am unsure if there is an easy way to test this, but I will look into it for future work.

Brian Hsueh4 years ago

Great presentation. I have a few questions regarding your methods. (1) Are the fabrics used in the study comprised of different materials? (2) Are the concentration of the silver nanoparticle known when the fabrics are infused in it and (3) what is the rationale of using those three specific bacterial species in your study?

• • 1 comment

Madalyn Fields4 years ago

Thank you. The silver-infused shirts are comprised of diverse fabric types. Not all companies provide this information. The type of material may contribute to how well the silver ions are embedded. Determining this could be future work for this research. The clothing companies did not provide information on the type or concentration of silver nanoparticles embedded into their fabrics. The bacterial species used were readily available at my university and used as a starting point to determine the antimicrobial ability. The continued use of _Bacillus megaterium_ in the following experiments was due to the abnormal zone of inhibition observed from fabric D.

Evan Argo4 years ago

Was silver the only antimicrobial in each of the fabrics, or were others present?

• • 1 comment

Madalyn Fields4 years ago

The addition of silver nanoparticles was advertised as the only antimicrobial agent in the silver-infused fabrics. Due to the lack of information provided by the clothing companies, it is difficult to determine if there is another variable to the antimicrobial effectiveness of each fabric.