ATP MONITORING AS AN EXPRESS METHOD TO DETERMINE CONTAMINATION OF OBJECTS

Abstract

The article presents the results of determining the contamination of water and different surfaces. The research was aimed at estimating water safety and the sanitary-hygienic condition of surfaces. To examine the water samples and the surfaces of household objects for contamination, we used the traditional method and the bioluminescence- based express method. The bioluminescence method is based on  determining the total amount of ATP (bacterial, somatic, and extracellular) on contact surfaces and in water. The level of ATP (adenosine triphosphate) was determined with a luminometer Lumitester PD-30 (Kikkoman, Japan) according to the manufacturer’s instructions, using special test systems. The ATP bioluminescence method is commercially more available for simple  and quick sanitary-hygienic control according to the HACCP principles or international standards. The traditional method of determining the contamination of water and other materials consisted in inoculating water or wipe samples from the controlled surfaces on a general nutrient medium, with their further cultivation under appropriate conditions. The strongest luminescence reaction was observed in sea water, which can be explained  by the presence of organic substances in it, while the bioluminescence values for the potable (bottled) and filtered water tested were the closest to those in the control test. The results of testing the sanitary-hygienic condition of surfaces show that the amount of adenosine triphosphate exceeded the limits in almost all tested objects. However, only slight adenosine triphosphate overconcentration was observed on the internal surface of new (plastic) food containers. The studies performed have shown that the bioluminescence-based express method can be used as primary control that gives immediate information about the contamination of both surfaces and liquids. Using the bioluminescence method can shorten the  time of the study and thus reduce the cost of the test. However, to determine the qualitative and quantitative composition of the tested object’s microbiota, the classical microbiological control is needed.