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posted by Fnord666 on Thursday July 20 2017, @11:44PM   Printer-friendly
from the hidden-nasties dept.

In a story appearing in Innovations Report, researchers reveal that your kitchen cleaning sponge can breed germs, and obvious cleaning techniques are ultimately ineffective:

The first comprehensive study of contamination in used kitchen sponges worldwide has just been published. The high concentration of bacteria found in these cleaning materials is partially cause for concern. Washing the sponge in hot water or putting it in the microwave is not a long-term solution, say the researchers.

[...] These are environmental and water bacteria, but also bacteria which are typical for the human skin. Particularly for people with a weak immune system such as patients and the elderly, bacteria such as Acinetobacter johnsonii, Moraxella osoloensis and Chryseobacterium hominis can lead to infections. The very commonly found Moraxella osloensis bacteria can also cause kitchen sponges to stink. Faecal bacteria and those which cause food poisoning or dysentery however, were scarcely detected.

However the real cause for concern is: in sponges which according to their users were regularly cleaned either in the microwave or through washing, showed considerably higher levels of potentially pathogenic bacteria. The scientists assume that the cleaning of the sponges can lead to a short-term decrease in the number of germs; obviously in the quickly regrowing communities however, the potentially pathogenic bacteria achieve an ever stronger domination, probably due to a higher stress tolerance.

"Sometimes the bacteria achieved a concentration of more than 5 times 10^10 cells per cubic centimetre," ... "Those are concentrations which one would normally only find in faecal samples.

Journal article: Microbiome analysis and confocal microscopy of used kitchen sponges reveal massive colonization by Acinetobacter, Moraxella and Chryseobacterium species.

[MythBusters covered this is in Season 7. - Ed]


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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday July 21 2017, @03:17AM (2 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Friday July 21 2017, @03:17AM (#542162)

    So how many of these bacteria end up on "clean" dishes. And has anyone ever got sick? If these are normal skin bacteria, they can't be that bad.

  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday July 21 2017, @04:21AM (1 child)

    by Anonymous Coward on Friday July 21 2017, @04:21AM (#542180)

    TFS: "sponges which according to their users were regularly cleaned either in the microwave or through washing, showed considerably higher levels of potentially pathogenic bacteria" ("pathogenic" means able to cause illness).

    • (Score: 2) by riT-k0MA on Friday July 21 2017, @06:44AM

      by riT-k0MA (88) on Friday July 21 2017, @06:44AM (#542247)

      In other words, don't sterilize your sponges. It kills the "good" germs that keep the "bad" (pathogenic) germs in check.