What Are The Advantages And Disadvantages Of Using Enzymes In Cleaning Products

Class practical

Laundry detergents are a familiar awarding of enzyme applied science in our daily lives. Detergent manufacturers have robust protocols for assessing the added cleaning value of different enzymes, with different stains, different fabrics, unlike temperatures.

While you lot cannot replicate all these tests in your classroom, groups of students could each deport out a uncomplicated investigation of one gene, while decision-making other variables.

Lesson organisation

This will depend on how open-concluded you permit the planning and execution of an investigation to be.

Introducing the thought that enzymes are added to laundry detergent to improve cleaning performance could be brief, or take longer if you desire to introduce more than ideas nigh enzyme action, types of fabrics, the nature of stains, and the effects of reducing laundry temperatures. If you encourage each group of students to investigate one gene and allow time for sharing reports of the practicals at the stop, y'all could embrace several aspects of the technological application of enzymes to laundry.

It might be interesting to share the reports by posting them to a website and then asking each student to review another grouping's report.

Apparatus and Chemicals

For each grouping of students:

Access to a range of

• fabrics
• staining substances
• detergents – with and without enzymes
  (Annotation ii)
• h2o (including hot water)

Beakers

Stirring rods

Thermometers

For the class – set up by technician/instructor:

Non-bio detergent at a suitable dilution (Annotation ane)

Enzyme preparations to add to the detergent (Note 2)

Range of fabrics: cotton fiber, linen, nylon, rayon, silk, wool (Note 3)

Staining substances (Note 4)

Health & Safety and Technical notes

Refer to safety notes provided with your supplied enzyme preparation. Handling concentrated enzyme preparations is more chancy than handling diluted enzyme preparations. Dry enzyme powder is hazardous if inhaled, so spills should be cleared up with a damp textile before they dry out. Technicians should vesture eye protection. They should avoid raising enzyme dusts in the air when preparing solutions, and should rinse splashes off the skin quickly and thoroughly.

Students should take similar care with dilutions of enzyme in detergent solutions, but the hazard is much reduced. Wash whatever detergent splashes from the eyes with copious running water or an eye launder canteen.

1 A suitable dilution of detergent is around 5%, that is 5 cmⁱⁱⁱ of detergent per 100 cm³. This is calculated from the typical detergent pack suggestion of 100 cmⁱⁱⁱ of detergent in a medium soil launder and machines using around xx litres of h2o for the wash wheel.

2 Provide portions of enzymes to add to known volumes of the detergent, or make up solutions of enzymes (protease simply, lipase but, amylase only) in non-bio detergent. Students mix these to make enzyme cocktails, following their investigation plans.

NCBE supplies v detergent enzymes individually or in a pack of five. They supply lipase (Lipex™) in 100 cmⁱⁱⁱ bottles. The data sheets in the packs recommend suitable amounts of enzyme to employ as a starting point for any investigation. They likewise provide information about the enzyme including likely optimum temperature for enzyme action. NCBE recommend testing any protocol with different concentrations of enzyme before use with students, because enzyme activity in different situations and afterwards storage is hard to predict. Apply the data sheet provided with the enzyme to guide your decisions.

3 Web inquiry into the source and nature of the fibres in different fabrics will reveal that some are plant products (varieties of cellulose fibres), some are constructed polymers, and others are of animal origin (poly peptide fibres). With their knowledge of enzymes, students should be able to piece of work out which laundry enzymes are likely to accept a negative event on silk and wool.

iv Students may devise their ain stains, but could include cooking oils, fresh grass, milk, egg yolk, chocolate sauce, rich gravy, fruit juice. Encourage students to be sparing in how they stain the fabric, especially if investigating fatty stains at depression temperatures.

Upstanding issues

At that place are no ethical bug with the practical procedure. Y'all may need to avoid handling animal products to produce stains if you have strict vegetarians or vegans in the form.

Procedure

SAFETY: Rinse whatsoever splashes of enzyme solutions from the skin apace and thoroughly. Wear eye protection when handling enzyme solutions. Make clean upwards spills with a damp cloth before they dry. Avoid raising dust into the air with detergents and powdered enzymes. Avoid rubbing eyes after treatment solutions, washed fabrics etc.

Preparation

a Make up detergent and enzyme solutions (Notes 1 and 2)

b Ready fabrics to examination (Note 3)

Investigation

c Y'all could provide a detailed protocol for an investigation for your students, or make investigation planning part of the activity. Fabrics volition need to be stained, mixed with detergent and/or enzyme solutions at a certain temperature for a certain fourth dimension, agitated in some way, rinsed and left to dry before assessing the stain-removing effects of the detergent/ enzyme mixes.

Teaching notes

The utilise of enzymes is oftentimes preferable to traditional chemical treatment. Traditional chemical treatments are often non-specific, not always easily controlled, and may require harsh conditions. Often they produce undesirable side furnishings and/or waste disposal issues. Enzyme-controlled reactions often requite college production quality, lower manufacturing cost, less waste and reduced energy consumption. The technical effects of enzymes tin can be controlled by changing enzyme dose, temperature, and reaction time. Because enzymes are catalysts, the amount added to accomplish a reaction is relatively minor. For example, an enzyme grooming in most food uses is equal to 0.1% (or less) of the production.

Enzymes used in food processing are more often than not destroyed during subsequent processing steps and not present in the final nutrient product. When enzymes are used to remove stains from fabrics, clothes can be washed at lower temperatures, thus saving energy. Enzymes provide an culling to chlorine bleach for removing some stains from cloth. Using enzymes means the level of surfactants can be reduced, and permits the cleaning of clothes in the absenteeism of phosphates. Enzymes besides contribute to safer working conditions when they allow elimination of harsh chemic treatments during production processes. (Source: Enzyme Technical Association.)

A disadvantage of using enzymes in laundry detergent is that some people experience allergic or other reactions to traces of detergent on laundered wearable. Another is that protease enzymes will damage protein fibres in fabrics such as silk and wool.

Wellness & Rubber checked, September 2022

Downloads

Download the student canvas Investigating enzymes used in laundry detergents (62 KB) with questions and answers

Spider web links

www.ncbe.reading.ac.uk
NCBE at Reading is a source for laundry detergent enzymes, and for many tried and tested protocols using enzymes. NCBE also provide a broad range of other biotechnology practical equipment, consumables and protocols.

(Websites accessed October 2022)

Source: https://practicalbiology.org/technology/using-enzymes/investigating-enzymes-used-in-laundry-detergents

Posted by: dunmirebreng1955.blogspot.com

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