According to a study completed at the University of Florida, the microwave can be a helpful tool for reducing the germs in the kitchen. How can this be? By killing the various fungi, bacteria, and viruses that live in the common household sponge.
But beware, reports of appliance damage and fire surfaced shortly after the story was published because of a small detail that was not published, but necessary to insure success. Wet the sponge.
The study was published in the Journal of Environmental Health and made headlines across many news media outlets because of the usefulness of its findings. After just two minutes a sponge that was soaked in wastewater had more than 99 percent of bacteria, viruses and spores killed.
The kitchen sponge is a favorite among many men and women as the number one tool for cleanup and doing dishes. However, there is always the concern that some germs will be spread around from food preparation to clean areas where food is then consumed, risking contamination and food poisoning.
Many use the dishwasher to clean the sponge, but it does not truely disenfect the sponge like the microwave. So the researchers from the University of Florida suggest completely wetting your kitchen sponges and then putting them in the microwave for 2 minutes on high power.
This should be ample time to kill most of the germs, and if wet the sponge will not catch fire.
Other notes of caution include: the sponge will be hot and be sure the sponge does not have any metal or metal flecks in the abrasive side.
Hopefully now people can be less worried about spreading germs via the kitchen sponge.
Posted by Dr. Christina Gutierrez on February 13, 2007 10:09 AM
