Over 50 billion microorganisms invade every cubic centimeter: kitchen sponges are one of the dirtiest objects in our homes.
He is about to end up run over, his mother saves himOver 50 billion microorganisms: if there is a very dirty dirty object in the house, it is there kitchen sponge! And, my ladies, it is not enough to sterilize or disinfect it in all the grandmother's magic potions: bacteria do not flee, but come back stronger and more numerous than before.
Thus, among the dirtiest meanders of the kitchen, the infected number one is precisely that contraption that we use morning, noon and evening to clean in dishes where we eat. Creepy.
According to a new study published in Scientific Reports and reported in Science, in short, an army of over 50 billion microorganisms invade every cubic centimeter of sponge. It would be, data in hand, a number equal to seven times that of the people who are on Earth. And not only that: more than 50 billion microorganisms means that you are closer to the structure of disastrous than to a cleaning tool.
Examining this micro population of the sponge was a group of German researchers who lined up the Microbial DNA of 14 sponges already used and has discovered that among the billions of bacteria hosted there are also conjunctures and related ones of those that cause pneumonia e meningitis.
Sylvia Schnell, of the University of Giessen, and Markus Egert, of the Furtwangen University, who coordinated the analyzes, concluded that the sponges used to wash the dishes act both as "reservoirs" of microorganisms, and as "disseminators" of bacteria on other surfaces, with the very obvious possibility of contaminating your hands and consequently the food you handle. In addition, the bad smell that sponges often give off would be due to a particular bacterium, Moraxella osloensis, which in addition to the unpleasant smell, can cause infections in those with a weaker immune system.
And the sterilization? According to the researchers, it is useless: in the experiments, neither boiling nor microwaving killed those microorganisms. Indeed, the disinfected sponges they retained a higher percentage of bacteria compared to sponges that had never been cleaned, because the bacteria that cause diseases would be more resistant and therefore more capable of colonizing clean areas again and with extreme speed.
On kitchen sponges you can also read:
- Sponge for dishes, the dirtiest object in our kitchens?
In short, if the sponges have billions of bacteria and it is useless to wash them thoroughly, how do you wash the dishes? Better the dishwasher?
Germana Carillo
