Sphagnum+Moss

media type="file" key="sphagnum.wav" width="300" height="50"Sphagnum moss: An effective antimicrobial filtration media?

**SPHAGNOLOGY LAB. Rachel Kinney. Ceallach Gibbons. **This lab was done to test if sphagnum moss can effectively kill bacteria based on the information that some swimming pools have begun using sphagnum moss as an antibacterial agent, allowing only 50% of the usual amount of sodium hypochlorite (the chlorinating agent) to be necessary in killing bacteria. These chemicals damage swimmers’ skin, suits and eyes, in addition to being hazardous to monitor and control. This lab tested the effectiveness of sphagnum moss in killing Escherichia coli bacterium by allowing the bacteria to grow in a broth and then filtering the broth through a multilevel system. Five tests were done filtering the bacteria in broth through the filter to determine whether 50% of the usual amount of sodium hypochlorite when added to the broth and filtered through sphagnum moss and sand kills as much bacteria as the full amount would. A small amount of these solutions was then placed to grow on an agar plate, but the results were inconclusive. Light spectrometry techniques were used on the five solutions and it was found that the solution filtered through moss was clearest, with a transmittance level of 98.7 out of 100 and an absorbance level of .006 (for water it would be zero). This suggests the moss may be an effective filtration media. Key words: sodium hydroxide, agar plate, sphagnum moss, light spectrometry

Figure 1: Multilevel filtration system

Figure 2: Five broth solutions. At right is the solution filtered through sphagnum moss. Figure 3: Transmittance in five broth solutions Figure 4: Absorbance in five broth solutions

Citations:  Marshall, Jessica. (2009). Swimming pools kept clean by going green. //Discovery News //, Retrieved from http://news.discovery.com/earth/swimming-pools-moss-green.html  Morton, E, Winters, J, & Smith, L. (2010). //An analysis of antiseptic and antibiotic properties of variously treated mosses and lichen //. Informally published manuscript, Department of Pathology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan. Retrieved from __[] __