Hi! I need to analyze 30 soil samples and I need to use a sifter to keep just the fraction that is smaller than 2mm. I am a water microbiologist and soil protocols are quite unfamiliar to me. I wonder how can I sterilize the sifter between samples to avoid contamination. I need a quick sterilization method because I need to analyze the samples fast to avoid microbial inactivation. Thank you!!!!!!
70% ethanol is commonly used to sterilize lab benches for microbiology work so that should work assuming you have already cleaned the larger soil particles off with soap/water and a brush first. I've found in the past having two screens is very useful as I normally place the washed one in a drying oven to speed up the process; sometimes hand drying just doesn't cut it. Using larger volumes of soil also helps to "dilute" any potential contamination.
Ethanol is appropriate, as is a weak HCl bath. If you have a large enough autoclave, this could be a third option.
A simple way can be to sterilize with about 6% hydrogen peroxide. This brings about the same sterilization effect as methylated spirit. Kills bacteria.
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