WAS: Stye in eyelid, NOW Salt & pH

[Guest guest]

Just a small correction to Jennifer's post -

 

Salt (NaCl - sodium chloride) does not affect pH. pH has to do with

measuring free hydrogen atoms (hence the " H " for hydrogen) and salt does not

contain any hydrogen.

 

Salinity, however, (the level of salt) does impact many bacteria. Most

bacteria cannot live in a high-salt environment, although there are

" halophiles " (salt-lovers) and " extreme halophiles " that live in some very

salty environments. This is why salt was used to " cure " and preserve many

foods in the past, it made the food an intolerable environment for most

microbes that would cause decay of the food or sickness in those who ate it.

 

Salt tolerance is once of the tests we used in my Microbiology class to help

identify microorganisms.

 

Melissa Bell

pre-pharmacy student