Dishwashers - IMPORTANT health related info

For plastic bags, I'm not going to buy a single study that was performed by the plastic bag industry. E-coli is very commonly found on toothbrushes, as was shown by Mythbusters and several studies (btw, interestingly the plethora of toothbrushes they taped right to the toilet had no higher ecoli concentration than those put in random places around the house). However, the quantity is so low as to be a non-issue. Remember, we are bombarded by bacteria and viruses every day, and one of the dirtiest things we touch every day really doesn't harm our health, and thats steering wheels of our cars. Our hands are the dirtiest part of the human body, and we touch our steering wheels repeatedly, and they are often in warm climates which is very healthy for bacteria and viruses to thrive and constantly touched over and over rarely ever being wiped down with a disinfectant. Many are also dimpled or perforated leather, which holds bacteria very well.

I am hesitant to buy this story on the health concern of dishwashers, as the media loves to find some everyday household product and insist that it can kill you, as this produces fantastic ratings and has been done time and time again. The rim of your dishwasher doesn't come in physical contact with your dishes, so while it may be a good idea to wipe it down w/ a bleach cleaner from time to time, I again don't see any confirmed cases of this causing harm in people which you would expect to see considering the billions that use dishwashers around the planet. And the alternative is using dish-washing sponges, and most of us have seen the studies about how sponges that are very porous and repeatedly exposed to food contaminants and put away wet are full of bacteria.

One can wash dishes with a clean dishcloth everyday and put the used one in the laundry. You don't have to use a germ infested sponge.

The only reason I still take plastic bags at the store is because I use them to dispose of cat waste when scooping the litter pans. I haven't figured out a good alternative.

Interesting information. Thanks.

Robin

The article said something about "The scientists studied 189 dishwashers in 101 different homes around the world.". Interesting that quite a few of the homes must have had more than one dishwasher - that's not even totally common in the US.

I'm not going to get hyper about using my dishwasher - I would think people would be keeling over left and right in the US if so much contamination posted a major concern.

You cannot be sued for making a statement of fact. It would be instantly thrown out of the courts.

The plastic industry trying to frighten the public against the government putting in laws banning plastic bags from grocery stores by saying reusable bags contain ecoli isn't slander because its true. They just omit any studies from trusted third party organizations that measure the actual risk from their findings, which is most likely next to nil.

You can tell the truth without telling the WHOLE truth.

Mythbusters Episode 12:

What I mean is that I don't think they are lying that they found black yeast, but that they may be omitting what quantity of fungi was found and what level experts agree is detrimental to your health, and perhaps show about how many people have been affected out of the sheer millions that regularly use a dishwasher to date.

For example, the United States is one of the most litigious nations on the planet. If dishwashers during regular normal use were harmful to the user's health, without warning labels about harmful fungi and the like, surely there would be a class action lawsuit by now showing up on the news. This is a country that awards multi-million dollar awards to people that spill hot coffee on their laps.

If folks were aware of how much icky stuff is on the money we handle every day, they would stop using it.

I believe the biggest problem we have today and directly contributes to allergies, is that our immune systems have been compromised by trying to sanitize everything. As children, for example, we pulled carrots from the ground that had been spread with cow manure a few months earlier, wiped the carrot on our pants and ate it. Nobody we ever went to school with (in a 3 room schoolhouse with 3 grades in each room) had allergies, or were sick. I could count on one hand the number of times we may have missed school because we were sick, except of course when we got measles or mumps.

Too much ado about nothing IMO.

One of the theories of why Americans have such high rates of severe allergies and autoimmune illnesses is because we aren't exposed to enough dirt, germs and bacteria, so our immune systems turn on our own bodies because they aren't being kept busy enough otherwise. I think we should be grateful for anything that exposes us to some kind of germ. . .it'll keep our immune system from attacking us .

The article says:

Something is amiss with either this article or the subject matter.

That's almost 2 dishwshers per household. How many people do you know that have 2 dishwashers in their kitchen? And no, I don't mean the human type.

or the cat or dog type

So true, so true. However, I kinda think that all the air pollution that is around us does cause us to be more compromised to other allergens.

When my son was a baby, his pediatrician didn't want us to keep our dog because he believed (and was taught) that the dog would cause my son to develop allergies. Being a country girl, I scoffed (not in his face) at this "new" revelation. We kept our dog and lived with our pets as usual. Today my son is a strong healthy man.

THEN, this week I heard that a study (now I don't know who these people are or anything - just telling you about the study's findings)

http://blog.naturalstandard.com/natu...allergies.html

What a difference 40 years make, eh? We'd like to believe our medical practitioners, but they only practice what they've been taught - and we can't turn off our brains and comply blindly just because they have a medical training and we may not.

When this stuff comes down - I've found it's best to take a step back and think about it before panic.

That's why once a month, I eat at Taco Bell.

People need to STOP being such germaphobes!!!! Your body has an immune system to fight off bacteria and a little exposure is not going to hurt you. In fact, it is good for you to keep your immune system functioning properly. We need to stop worrying about making everything sterile. You do yourself more harm with cleaners, than any harm the bacteria may cause you. I handle raw meat evey single day, a lot of chicken and there have been many times that I just wipe my hands with a paper towel and go on to eat something, only to realise ooops, I didn't wash my hands. I haven't gotten sick. Of course hand washing is important when handling raw meats, after using the restroom etc, but making everything in your home sterile is impossible and you are more than likely making yourself sick with the cleaners, many of which the vapors are very harmful. I use no harsh cleaners in my home. I do have antibacterial soap to wash my hands only because I handle a lot of raw meat. I use vinegar and water to do a lot of cleaning. Vinegar is a natural disinfectant and is not a poison to you or your pets.

But if it's so dangerous, and every dishwasher puts it on your silverware, then we should be seeing everybody who uses that silverware getting sick. Or maybe just the elderly and immune-compromised people. But has ANYONE actually gotten sick from it?

That's because it is NOT dangerous.

Well, the bioinfo link Violet posted did say that this black yeast is dangerous, even fatal. I'm sure it is, in large enough amounts. Almost anything could be fatal in large enough amounts. I don't think the amount in your dishwasher is enough to make anybody sick.