BIOLUMINESCENCE TO DETERMINE CONTAMINATION DIFFERENCES IN HANDWASHING ACCORDING TO SEX

Abstract

Bioluminescence detects the amount of adenosine triphosphate(ATP) present on a surface, which is directly related to biological dirt. This study sought to objectify the degree of hand contamination according to sex in our study population of 40 dentistry students (63% female - 37% male) with a rapid quantitative measurement technique. Materials and methods: This included measuring the contamination before and after clinical hand washing(CHW) in the interdigital and hyponychium regions of both hands using a 3M™ Clean-Trace™ luminometer by reading relative light units(RLU) from a swab considering pass <250 RLU and fail >251 RLU. Results: More contamination was found among the women prior to CHW, there being greater contamination in the hyponychium and on the right hand, whereas this contamination was lower in the men and the left hand was more contaminated in both regions. After CHW, it was found that the men presented greater contamination, with the right hand being cleaner than the left in both regions, but better in the interdigital region; in the women the right hand was cleaner, with both hands being cleaner in the interdigital region. Conclusion: We infer that before the CHW the women has a higher level of contamination than the men (Cortizas & Rumbo 2015; Miranda et al, 2008). After CHW, clean skin was found, but with greater contamination in the men than the women. There were presented improvements in contamination ranges, identified and evaluated through bioluminescence, which is consistent with Boyce et al (2009) study.