Biology Honors Class Elizabeth Barreca Ms. Rennier/Mr. Squire March 24, 2011

Activeion’s Ionator EXP was brought to the attention of a Cuba High School biology class by combined efforts of a janitor, who received an Ionator sample, and two science teachers. The class assignment was to test the validity of Activeion’s Ionator EXP which claims that it “replaces the shelves of general-purpose cleaners, killing 99.9% (when used as directed) of germs and eliminating dirt” by spraying electrically charged water. If the Ionator was to work, the school may evaluate investing into a few units. Considering the general cleaning solution used in the school, a bleach dilution was chosen to be tested against the electrically charged water produced. The general hypothesis was that the Ionator EXP could not be as effective as bleach which has been successfully used for years. Using water as the control, an experiment was created to test the legitimacy of Activeion’s claim.

24 50cm 2 Petri dishes Tape Cotton Swabs Ionator EXP Water Bleach diluted with water Flat Surface Septic tank bacteria and dirt 1.Bacteria were spread across a flat surface. 2.Over three similar surfaces, 8 areas of 30cm x 1cm were marked out with tape, resulting in a total of 24 marked areas. 3.The bleach dilution, water, or ionized water from the Ionator was sprayed on each section of 8. 4.A sample of each area was taken and streaked into individual Petri dishes, using an even, rolling motion while taking the sample and transferring it. 5.The Petri dishes sat for two days. 6.After two days, the Bacteria Colonies were counted and data was collected (Pages 3 and 4). Methods

Bacteria Colonies/Water Bacteria Colonies/Bleach Bacteria Colonies/Ionator Water at Bottom, Bleach Middle, Ionator Top

The hypothesis that the Ionator EXP would not work as well as the application of a bleach dilution was shown to be wrong by this experiment. According to the results, the Ionator EXP worked best with an average of 0.1 bacteria colonies per cm 2 opposed to 0.6 cm 2 of bacteria after use of bleach dilution. However, this experiment could have been done better. The data showed that the eighth sample from the surfaces sprayed with the bleach dilution grew ninety-nine bacteria colonies, being a definite outlier compared to the rest of the surfaces in the section. The reason this was an outlier should have been investigated because when figured into the average it made a substantial difference which could change the conclusion of the entire experiment. Also, being performed in a school environment, how well the Ionator EXP kills harmful bacteria and viruses could not be tested. This experiment must be improved in many ways to show the actual effect of the Ionator EXP.