Hypothesis

If various different brands of disinfecting wipes are tested to reduce bacteria then Lysol wipes will disinfect the granite surface the greatest because it is the most consumed brand out of the three and it has a strong popular active ingredient in it which is Alkyl Dimethyl Benzyl Ammonium Chloride.

 

Background Research

What are germs and how many different types are there?

Germs are extremely small organisms that can get people sick. There are 4 different kinds of germs, bacteria, viruses, fungi and protozoa.  Bacteria can get you sick, however, science allows us to use medicine and vaccines to protect are body against bacterial infections. Viruses are like germs that cannot live for long unless they are inside a cell, which helps them live longer. This makes it easier to kill them. A great example of a virus is the common cold which you could catch chickenpox, measles, and the flu. Fungi is a germ that causes rashes and itchiness on the body.  It also doesn’t affect people who are healthy and are immune to it. Protozoa is a germ that is always around water and moisture, it spreads diseases around moisture or in water. If you catch protozoa , you will have body pain.

What is bacteria and how do we stop it?                                        Bacteria/organisms

First germ is bacteria, bacteria is a germ that can get you badly ill but is also decently easy to prevent it. The ways that you can stop bacteria from reaching you are medicines and vaccines. Bacteria may not reach you but it is almost always on your countertops. You may think how does it get there? It could get there in many ways such as while you are making food salmonella gets trapped on your hands and spreads to more places. Salmonella is one type of bacteria that is commonly found in your kitchen but there are many others. A few others are E Coli, shigella, and hepatitis A. All of those types of bacteria can last in your kitchen for at least hours but furthermore such as MONTHS. We can destroy bacteria by using strong chemicals like bleach.

What are viruses and what can we do to prevent them?              Virus

Viruses are one of many germs that can cause a disease such as the common cold, flu, COVID-19, and HIV. Viruses is a type of germ that can not live for a long period of time unless they are in a strong living cell. This germ can spread to you if you breath in air by someone who is infected by something or touching a disgusting surface with a virus. You can prevent this if you are willing to get vaccines, medication put into your body, or being well aware of your cleaning habits. The best way to kill viruses is to disinfect places with germs properly adn to keep good care of yourself.

What is fungi and how do we get rid of it?                                 Fungi/mushrooms

Fungi is another germ that can cause diseases such as ringworm and athlete's foot which are the not so serious ones. If you catch more serious ones then it will affect your lungs and brain. People who are immune or super healthy are mostly likely not going to catch fungi. Somehow if you do end up having it you can kill it by using antifungal medications which are either creams, pills, injections, or ointments depending on your infection. Those medications are very useful to people in pain because of fungi. Fungi is the most affected germ out of the four if you catch one of the super serious ones in my opinion.

What is protozoa and how do we destroy it?                           Protozoa

Protozoa is the last main germ, it's a weird kind of germ because it loves water and anything that is moist. Protozoa is very rare to catch but if do catch it you will feel soreness and lots of body pain..The best way to get rid of protozoa if you have it is through filtration, UV light disinfection, and boiling. Filtration works because of protozoa being a decently big microorganism and around moisture often is is easy to drain out the harm affects. This is how we can destroy protozoa and never have to feel this pain again.

What are the materials in granite countertops and cleaning wipes?

Some of the materials in granite are, Feldspar, Quartz, Mica, and Coarse. Those minerals make up most of granite and granite is an igneous rock. The last couple of materials that form granite are a few dark minerals. Fun fact, when granite is in sunlight it shines bright because of the Mica in it. Second important fact, for granite to be granite it must have at least 20% of Quartz and less than 20% of dark minerals. 

The materials in a cleaning wipe are, Polyester, Polypropylene, Cotton, Wood Pulp, and Rayon Fibers. The materials help bring preservatives which helps the stop of mold growth because of the low pH is. This also makes more people use cleaning wipes because of how long they last for. Insure the wipes work it must be moistened with water to get the ingredients going and to get the moisturized texture.

What are dark minerals and mica?                                         Mica       Dark minerals

Dark minerals are commonly known as Ferromagnesian minerals, those minerals are characterized by their dark colors. Dark minerals are wealthy in iron and magnesium. The dark minerals often found in granite is mica and amphibole. Mica is a dark mineral in many rocks and is known for their many thick layers. Mica is relatively light and soft because of the texture it's also flexible.  Fun fact, around Canada, Montreal is the place where mica is usually found.

What are Lysol disinfectant wipes?                                        Lysol wipes

Lysol Disinfectant Wipes are convenient cleaning products designed to kill germs, bacteria, and viruses. They contain active ingredients like benzalkonium chloride and alkyl dimethyl benzyl ammonium chloride, which are quaternary ammonium compounds that destroy microorganisms by disrupting their cell membranes. These wipes also often include isopropyl alcohol to boost their disinfecting power. Commonly used in homes, offices, and healthcare settings, they effectively clean and sanitize surfaces like countertops, doorknobs, and bathroom fixtures, while removing dirt and grime.

What are Preempt disinfectant wipes?                                   Preempt wipes

PREempt Disinfectant Wipes are cleaning products designed to kill germs, bacteria, and viruses, commonly used in healthcare and commercial settings. The active ingredient, hydrogen peroxide, breaks down into oxygen and water to destroy microorganisms. They also contain citric acid to enhance disinfecting and water as a solvent. Effective against a wide range of pathogens, these wipes provide a quick and efficient way to disinfect high-touch surfaces.

What are Zytec disinfectant wipes?                                      Zytec wipes

Zytec Disinfectant Wipes are cleaning products designed to kill germs, bacteria, and viruses on various surfaces. They contain quaternary ammonium compounds (quats) to disrupt microorganisms' cell membranes, isopropyl alcohol for enhanced disinfecting, and water as a solvent. These wipes are quick and effective for sanitizing high-touch surfaces in healthcare, business, and home environments.

What is Alkyl Dimethyl Benzyl Ammonium Chloride and how does it kill germs?

Alkyl dimethyl benzyl ammonium chloride is a quaternary ammonium compound used in cleaning, disinfecting, and sanitizing products. With the formula C₆H₅CH₂N(CH₃)₂RCl, it acts as a cationic surfactant, where "R" is an alkyl group. It’s effective in killing bacteria, fungi, and viruses by disrupting the cell membranes of microorganisms, breaking down their outer layers and causing them to leak, which leads to their death. Found in disinfectants, sanitizers, and personal care products, it reduces surface tension for better cleaning and adheres to negatively charged surfaces due to its positive charge.

What is Hydrogen Peroxide and how does it kill germs?

Hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂) is a chemical compound commonly used as a disinfectant, antiseptic, and cleaning agent. It is a colorless liquid that, when diluted, is often used in household and medical settings. Hydrogen peroxide kills germs through its strong oxidizing properties. When it comes into contact with bacteria, viruses, or fungi, it breaks down into water and oxygen, releasing reactive oxygen species (ROS) that attack the cell structures of microorganisms. These ROS can damage proteins, lipids, and DNA within the microorganisms, leading to their destruction. This makes hydrogen peroxide an effective agent in sanitizing surfaces and disinfecting wounds by eliminating harmful pathogens.

What is the purpose of disinfecting wipes?                          Pathogens

Disinfectant wipes purpose is to kill any bacteria and viruses on non-porous surfaces. A fact about disinfecting wipes, they are scientifically tested to kill any pathogens in site and pathogens are germs like bacteria and viruses. Some things that are in disinfecting wipes that are helpful to kill pathogens are Quaternary Ammonium Compounds or Alcohol-based formulations. Those two ingredients are most effective on microorganisms. They work on microorganisms because they disturb how much power they have.

Do disinfecting wipes expire?

In a very simple answer yes, disinfecting wipes expire. When one year has passed disinfecting wipes has expired. The reasoning of that is because the active ingredients can't last much longer than a year. There are zero ways to help the wipes give its full effectiveness which is usually 99.99% of germs killed. Also when the wipes expire it gives off a sent of smell and if you use them there is a chance you can get sick. You could get sick by the old chemicals because of how powerful they are they can stay on your hand.

Glossary

Disinfecting: Kills remaining germs on surfaces.

Binary Fission: The process of one cell simply dividing into two.

Sanitizing: Reduces the number of microorganisms to a safe level.

Chemicals: Any type of substance that has defined composition.

Preservatives: A substance or chemical that is added to products.

Microorganisms: An organism that can be seen only through a microscope.

Bacteria: Small single-celled organisms.

Pathogens: It is any organism that causes disease.

Formulation: The action of devising or creating something.

            Solvent: A Chemical substance that can dissolve other molecules and compounds.

Variables

Manipulated: What am I changing

Brand of disinfecting wipes.

Responding: What am I watching for

Reduction of bacteria on the granite countertop.

Controlled: What stayed the same

• The amount of space of the counter I section off
• The counter is cleaned before every test
• The number of wipes I use per test to disinfect
• What I use to clean the counter before testing
• The amount of shakes of bacteria I put on the section of space
• Testing procedure
• Fluffy makeup brush

​​​​​​Materials

• 6 Preempt disinfecting wipes
• 6 Zytec disinfecting wipes
• 6 Lysol disinfecting wipes
• 1 Black light
• Clear tape
• 1 Fluffy makeup brush
• Bacteria glow powder container
• 1 Measuring tape
• 1 Paper
• 1 Pencil
• 1 Black sharpie
• 3 Sections of a granite counter

Procedure

1. Measure 1 foot of tape in all directions to make an approximately even square.
2. Tape it where you measured a square.
3. Repeat that two more times till you have three, one foot squares. 
4. Right with a sharpie on the top of the tape the brand your testing.
5. Shack the glow powder 5 times in different areas in the square.
6. Spread around the glow powder with a fluffy brush.
7. Take one picture of the bacteria before.
8. Get out the first brand of wipe.
9. Wipe in the square three times virtually and three times horizontally.
10. Take one finished result picture and record qualitative and quantitative observations.
11. Repeat steps 5 to 10 two more times with each wipe, which means three trials per wipe.

Qualitative Observations

 

Trials	Lysol Wipe	Preempt Wipe	Zytec Wipe
Trial 1	Lysol was not very wet which prevented it to collect germs. There was two streaks around the middle. One streak was near the top left.	Zero visible bacteria streaks left over in square. Very few germs on sides of tape. Preempt had a not to wet texture and not dry feeling.	Zytec was the wettest out of all three. One little streak left, just hardly caught my eye. Spread outside the box but less than Lysol.
Trial 2	Second test Lysol smudged much more to the outsides instead of gathering on the wipe. Two visible streaks were at the bottom and one on the left.	One streak left over but still is very good at gathering up the germs. All wipes had chemical smell except Preempt.	This time it left two streaks and smudged even more then last time.
Trial 3	Consistently Lysol showed that it has not much moisture in it which might of not activated the ingredients fully. Again left three noticeable streaks.	Overall Preempt was very good at collecting the germs. The last test it left three streaks left over.	Same as the second test it left two streaks. Zytec was the wipe that absorbed the least amount of germ, just more than Lysol.

Lysol trial 1

Before results                                                                                                   After results

           

Preempt trial 1

Before results                                                                                                   After results

                                      

Zytec trial 1

Before results                                                                                                   After results

          

 

Lysol trial 2

Before results                                                                                                  After results

          

 

Preempt trial 2

Before results                                                                                                   After results

          

Zytec trial 2

Before results                                                                                                  After results

          

Lysol trial 3

Before results                                                                                                   After results

          

 

Preempt trial 3

Before results                                                                                                  After results

          

 

Zytec trial 3

Before results                                                                                                   After results

          

 

Quantitative observations 

	Test 1	Test 2	Test 3	Average
Lysol Disinfecting Wipes Streaks	3	3	3	3
Preempt Disinfecting Wipes Streaks	0	1	3	1.3
Zytec Disinfecting Wipes Streaks	1	2	2	1.7

Data

Analysis

In my experiment, the manipulated variable is the brand of disinfecting wipes I used to clean bacteria off of a granite counter. The different brands of wipes include, Lysol, Preempt, and Zytec. The responding variable is the amount of bacteria streaks leftover after I clean the granite counter. By using three different brands of wipes when you look for the leftover bacteria streaks you look with a black light so it's easier to find.

A pattern that was shown when I was cleaning was, most of the time when I wiped it smudged to the edges of the tape instead of gathering on the wipe. The wipe that indeed smudged the most is Lysol although the texture was similar to Preempt and Preempt was the greatest cleaning wipe. Lysol's amount of streaks left over stayed the same with 3 per each trial. Preempt did the best with only a total of 4 which means its average is 1.3 bacteria streaks left over. Zytec was in the middle which was different in many ways and was just one less streak then Preempt with a total of five. This shows that Lysol is not the best brand to use and Preempt is the most reliable wipe out of the three.

I have learned that Lysol is not the brand of disinfectant wipes to choose if you want a good chemical deep clean on germs. Why Lysol was the worst is because of chemicals in it, possibly, and because it was not as wet as Preempt which worked the greatest. Preempt had a great amount of both moisture and collectivism which indeed helped preempt clean. All the wipes were roughly around the same size so it covered the same amount when cleaning roughly. This shows why each brand cleaned differently than others and what it does.

The plenty of patterns that this experiment shows me are that it does not matter how common the brand is. For example, Lysol is extremely common in Canada but Zytec and Preempt which placed higher have better cleaning materials in them two and aren't as common. This shows that I learned a new way to clean and what wipes need to work.

 

 

Conclusion

The results did not support my hypothesis that Lysol would have the least amount of bacteria streaks left over. Instead, Preempt had the least amount of bacteria streaks left over after three tests with a total of 4. When I used Lysol to clean I found that it was not collecting much of the germs and just smudging them around. Lysol had a total of nine streaks left over after being tested three times with an average of 3 per trial. This shows that any brand of disinfectant wipes do play a role in cleaning germs but there are better brands than others.

My background research explains that both Lysol and Zytec have the same active ingredient in each other such as Alkyl Dimethyl Benzyl Ammonium Chloride. Which seems like it did not play a big part in helping the wipe succeed to clean the best. Besides that Preempt had a different active ingredient in it such as Hydrogen peroxide. This helps explain why Preempt cleaned the greatest and why it picked up more germs.

 

 These results can benefit a wide range of people, such as someone in their early 20s who has not yet settled on a specific cleaning wipe. This can provide them with various options, with Preempt standing out as a top choice. Another example is someone who already prefers a particular brand, and this can persuade them to switch to a more reliable and effective option like Preempt. Additionally, this comparison not only highlights what to choose but also points out what to avoid. On a larger scale, if industry leaders or influential figures are exposed to this information, they might be inspired to create wipes similar to Preempt or elevate its marketing strategy, making it more popular and potentially expanding it to other countries like Germany, Belgium, and beyond. Although Preempt may be slightly more expensive than other options, its superior effectiveness makes it a worthwhile investment. This can have a positive impact on public health, as cleaner environments promote better well-being. All of these ideas and connections have the potential to make a significant impact, starting from smaller, individual choices and expanding into larger, global changes.

Sources of Error

Photo inconsistency: 

• The first trial, I accidentally left one curtain half open, possibly exposing more germs because of the tad bit of light shining which could have affected the results.

Germ powder arrangement:

• When I added the germ powder I wasn't measuring precisely I was just doing shakes in the square section, I could have used (tbsp, tsp, ect) for a actual measurement.
• With me using the fluffy brush, it wasn't the greatest thing to spread around the glow powder with, so there was likely uneven amounts of germs all over the testing area.

Imbalance amount of wiping pressure:

• I did not track how much pressure I applied to each wipe as this could affect how much germs gets picked up.
• A bunch of pressure would collect way more germs than slight pressure while wiping.

Wiping Process issue:

• While I was wiping I couldn't get full coverage of the square because of the limitation of amount of wipes I could do. 
• This could have caused uneven germs because the wipe sizes were different then each other.

Next steps

Future experiments:

• Test cleaning methods: Compare sprays, just water + paper towel, and a wet towel against disinfecting wipes to see how different they clean.
• Countertop material comparison: Test how bacteria reacts on different surfaces (wood vs. granite) to determine any differences in cleaning style.

Study ideas:

• Active ingredients: Investigate whether active ingredients in cleaning products are more effective than the inactive (formulated) ingredients.
• Types of active ingredients: Research the various types of active ingredients found in common cleaning products.

Improvements for future experiments:

• Precise measurements: Be more detailed and accurate with measurements for testing and product quantities.
• Better organization: Plan and organize the experiment process more thoroughly and keep track of data clearly.

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I am acknowledging many people but lets start off with my sister sofija. I am grateful for Sofija because she was very helpful when I could not think of many background research topics which now I have plently. She also helped me with my Citations when I needed to find the date and author of the when the website was published. Mrs Leung which is my science and math teacher was giving graet feedback on how do give more specific details. Mrs Kelly which is my ELA and SS techer gave me creatative tips on how I can make my presenation even better and talking loud and clear. Most important which is Mrs Burkell, she gave me the most incredible feedback and tips once I made to CYSF. Lastly the two judges that saw my project and decided if I was going to CYSF, those people matter very much to me because they wanted me to be the best and go deeper in my thoughts. Those are the six people that helped me create this prodject and make it even better.