Environmental Services

New research from the University of Southampton has shown that copper can prevent horizontal transmission of genes, which has contributed to the increasing number of antibiotic-resistant infections worldwide.

According to a team of Penn State entomologists, biopesticides -- naturally occurring microorganisms -- might provide an answer to the bed bug problem. Bed bugs need blood meals for growth and development throughout their life cycle. Increased travel, widespread insecticide resistance and changes in management practices have caused a resurgence in those insects throughout North America and Europe. Compounding the problem are concerns about the safety of using traditional chemicals in the domestic environment.

Healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) affect an estimated 1.7 million individuals and result in 99,000 deaths annually in American hospitals. With its role in hand washing accepted as perhaps our most reliable means for reducing HAI risk, hospital tap water has also been recognized as a source of such infections. Peer-reviewed literature has demonstrated that hospital tap water contains microbial pathogens, and that biofilm in water systems resists disinfection and delivers pathogenic organisms to the point of care. At-risk patients are susceptible to infection through direct contact, ingestion, and inhalation of waterborne pathogens. Systemic water treatment technologies reduce levels of recognized waterborne pathogens; however, they cannot eradicate biofilm within healthcare facility plumbing. Existing point-of-use (POU) filtration technologies have been reported to interrupt clinical outbreaks of infection due to recognized waterborne pathogens in the health care environment, and can represent a critical component of a comprehensive infection control strategy, particularly when targeted for patients at high risk.