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]
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Friday July 21 2017, @01:51PM
That might be at the bottom of pool filled with formaldehyde. Maybe.