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Appl Environ Microbiol. 1968 December; 16(12): 1841-1846
Copyright © 1968 American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Resistance of Spores of Bacillus subtilis var. niger on Kapton and Teflon Film to High Temperature and Dry Heat

Clean Assembly and Sterilization Laboratory, Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland 20771

ABSTRACT

To determine parameters that would assure sterility of a sealed seam of film for application in "split-seam entry," spores of Bacillus subtilis var. niger were sprayed onto pieces of Kapton and Teflon film. Short-time, high-temperature (200 to 270 C) exposures were made with film pieces between aluminum blocks in a hot-air oven, and the D and z values were determined after subculture of surviving spores. The use of Kapton film allowed the study of high temperatures, since it is not heat sealable and could be used to make thin packages for heat treatment. Spores on Teflon were dry-heat treated in a package designed to simulate an actual seam to be sealed. The z values of 29.1 C (52.4 F) for spores on Kapton and 139 C (250.4 F) for spores on Teflon were calculated.