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Wash your dishes with fungi!
You probably consider your dishwasher a time-saving appliance that makes life easier by doing a dreaded household chore.
But many of the same qualities that make the dishwasher an indispensable cleaning machine -- the moisture, heat, food scraps -- also make it a perfect breeding grounds for fungi, including some that could be harmful to your health.
Researchers collected microbial samples from 189 dishwashers in 18 countries, including Australia, South Africa, China and Slovenia. They were stunned to discover that 62 percent of the dishwashers tested positive for fungi. And 56 percent had a fungal species known as Exophiala, a kind of black yeast that looks like black slime.
"We were surprised to find some fungi that are extremely rare in nature but had really high numbers in dishwashers," says Nina Gunde-Cimerman, a professor of microbiology at the University of Ljubljana in Slovenia.
The study, published in the journal Fungal Biology, focused on the fungi found by swabbing the rubber seals of dishwasher doors, an area these organisms can degrade and hide within.
Two kinds of Exophiala species were seen and even the microbiologists were amazed they withstood the high heat, detergents, and salt concentrations found inside dishwashers. Cimerman suspects the fungi arrived via tap water, and the hardness of water also seems to play a role.
Exophiala is known to colonize on the lungs of patients with cystic fibrosis. It may sometimes cause fatal infections in healthy people, too.
Researchers warn that "the invasion of black yeasts into our homes represent a potential health risk." Their presence on plates or forks, for example, may spread infections even though none were reported in the sampled households. Only further study can determine if these dishwasher fungi can be dangerous to human health.
Until then, clean any disgusting black slime off the seal of your dishwasher.
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Leave a Comment:
South Africa, China and Slovenia? Places where I'm SURE cleanliness is next to godliness.
What's an efork?
noferatu,
Your unenlightend bias to non-US, Canadian, or Western European is showing. I've know many places, IN THE US, filthier than anything that I ever saw in Mexico, including the not so good parts.
One area not mentioned, even though it is in a roundabout way connected to the dishwasher is the sinks garbage disposal unit. If you are brave enough (and the switch is off of course), try inserting your hand down there! Then reach up and feel the upper part where the unit connects to the sink. Chances are you will find blackslime heaven! I discovered that this past winter when I had to retrieve a small item that had fallen down there. What a shock that was. Couldn't believe the amount of growth. Kitchen sink garbage disposal units are continually moist and make a superb breeding ground. Just another item to add to the constantly growing "Things to do" list, but still managable.
The same holds true for front loading laundry washers. The door needs to be left ajar when not in use so the sealing gasket will dry out and not cause your laundry to smell moldy.
Yeah ... like the U.S. is the cleanest place in the world???? That's why shows such as Hoarders and ones that "declutter" are so popular.
Bigotry on display.
An "efork" is a virtual fork that arrives as an attachment to an email.
An 'efork' is a typo!
People are too scared of germs these days. We've been using dishwashers for what? 40 or 50 years? Society hasn't collapsed. I think we'll be fine.
That does it. I am going back to having my wife wash dishes by hand!!
And good luck with THAT! hahaha
Hopefully she won't get black slime.
Dishwashers are nasty and NOT environmentally friendly. It takes more energy using a dishwasher than it does by hand.
Shawn, are you related to Einstein-3556858's wife?
Sorry about that Shawn, I miss read your statement.
You were taking Einstein's side.
Actually, current Energy Star washers use less water and energy than washing dishes by hand, by quite a large margin. It's been that way for some years now, many studies. Even the Tree Hugger website has embraced the dishwasher.
OMG!!!
Wine is bad for you-----no wine is good for you --- no wine is bad for you --- well maybe less then 5 bottles a day are OK.
Coffee is bad for you ---- no coffee is good for you ---- no coffee is bad for you---well maybe less then 10 cups a day is OK.
Use hand sanitizer --- no don't use hand sanitizer --- Ok use it, just don't use too much hand sanitizer.
You know something--- If I see a black "Slime" growing in or on my dishwasher, I think I am smart enough to wipe it off with a touch of bleach.
What is next?: Don't use bleach!!!!
They'll probably say that the dish soap we use is bad next. lol
Bleach will kill ya! Bleach exposure counteracts the 'good effect' of wine, coffee and hand sanitizer. Tastes nasty also.
A study will be done to see if it whitenes your teeth. One million dollars should cover it.
I mean this with the utmost respect to the three of you, so please don't get offended with what I'm about to say.
You're all idiots.
No offense taken at all Shonymat,
I am just tired of money being wasted on these "Studies".
I agree -- WHINE is definitely bad for you!
I use bleach in my dishwasher about every-third-time we run it. After it has run several cycles, so it is nice and hot, I open the door, pour about a cup into the bottom, and let it finish. Great way to disinfect them as well. I don't know what the long-term effects are of the bleach on my dishwasher's inner mechanisms, but I have done this for years and had no trouble so far that I know of.
Cheers!
Dave, you are hilarious.
My life will be over if I can't use my dishwasher or bleach anymore. I use it everywhere with a bit of soap- the dishwasher seal, fridge seal, garbage disposal, toilet, laundry, and my favorite - a little bit in a small, clean, empty plastic container in the kitchen sink with dish soap and water to use with my dish cloth. No more germ-ridden, smelly, slimy dish cloths and the sink, drain and garbage disposal get a daily disinfection. My counters get sanitized each time I wipe them so I don't have to worry about contaminating food. My sponge and sink strainers get a good soak, as well. Plus, the odor reminds me of my mother who has been long gone. Her hands smelled of bleach from doing the laundry by hand for her 10 kids.
Doesn't dishwasher detergent have a small amount of bleach in it? And, they make that stuff that you run through your dishwasher once a month or so to clean it- it's got a lot of bleach in it.
Dave, you rule us all!!!
You know Jerome, I am just sick and tired of all these stupid "Studies" they get taxpayers money for to conduct.
What was it, $800,000 to study shrimp on a treadmill. Or how to grow better pickles! The sex lives of mosquitoes come to mind not too long ago.
Enough is enough all ready!
Was done at the University of Ljubljana in Slovenia. Fortunately we didn't pay for it
OH yeah I forgot to mention the 2.5 BILLION dollars that NASA spent looking for a place to land on Mars again. Yep, 2.5 BILLION.
Larry, Thank God it was not here, I suppose that Slovenia has more money then we do. LOL
Don't you know, Slovenia just did the study to call attention to itself. How many of you can find it on the map?? Lovely country I heard.
I think using the same sponge over and over and over again on dishes is disgusting!
OK all you doubters. After you've unloaded the clean dishes, take a paper towel and wipe off the bottom of the door, from inside the dishwasher. You will be DISGUSTED by what you find. And the sex lives of mosquitoes may not seem very important, but in fact, mosquitoes transmit malaria, which kills millions of children each year. Understanding their sex lives is one part of the answer of how to stop the transmission of malaria.
Kathy,
I agree with every thing you have said. What was not explained here is whether the mere presence of these microbes and fungi on the surfaces tested represent a danger on the dishes. I, for one, do not lick the refrigerator, nor the dishwasher door or sump. Are these spore driven? Can they host on the dinnerware or flatware? Is there a treatment regime recommended? Or just another techno scare?
One of the identified health problems in the US, from another "recent study" (and several earlier ones) is that Americans lead too sterile a life, especially as children. This makes us more susceptible to allergy and disease later in life since we never developed antibodies. AND YES, I know the difference between viruses, bacterii and fungi.
Kathy,
I have been using a dishwasher for a ton of years. I know how to clean it. I know that the black "Slime" is not good so I keep it out.
Now we DON'T need to study how the mosquitoes "Make Love". we already knew it. What we needed was the type of poison needed to control them. What chemicals we need to use in our fogs and to spread over the standing water where they hatch.
By the way do we need to know how or why a shrimp runs?
Why did it take 2.5 BILLION dollars to study Mars?
Or even how to grow better pickles in another country? We have been growing pickles since the country was settled.
The list goes on and on and on, with these stupid "Studies".
That is my point.
Not to nitpick Dave, but you don't grow pickles. You pickle the cucumbers you grew.....
There was a time in my life when all those reports mattered----what would affect my longevity etc.
Don't have that problem anymore so I ignor all the research hype------I've come to the realizatrion that "I don't have to worry about dying young anymore"--so I don't have to give a sh--t!!----"what a relief!!!"
People should rinse dishes before putting them in the dishwasher. Is it possible that maybe a little vinegar will solve the problem? I know that a vinegar rinse does wonders for cleaning coffee makers.
PaulReed, I was just thinking the same. Vinegar will kill fungi on toes and fingernails, why not in the dishwasher. To top it off, it is cheap, non-toxic and gets the spots off your dishes if you put 1/2 cup or more in the wash cycle, right after it starts filling; perhaps, killing two birds with one stone.
I would imagine putting birds in a dishwasher would kill them no matter how much vinegar or stones you put in there with them.
PaulReed,
Vinegar is weak acetic acid which dissolves deposits. Which reminds me, I need to "fix" the church coffee where someone jammed the perc stem into the bootom and then failed to remove it fo several weeks.
Bill,
Contact your local university, I am sure they would like to get taxpayers money to "Study" you church's coffee maker. $500,000 or $800,000 would not be out of the question. Why they might even name a library after you and the church.
Dave - not so fast. First, the university must do a "Study" to see if the church truly exists, then another "Study" to see if Bill truly exists, and finally, a "Study" to see if Bill is really qualified to operate and repair the so-called coffee maker in question. Then, and only then, can the "Study" for the coffee maker commence. The total amount should cost the taxpayers no less than $3.5 million...an amount less than this will not qualify for federal grants and monies to those who are pursuing this special interest probe.
apparently the govt doesn't know that the vast majority of us have common sense.
Pretty sure my dishwasher is cleaner than my kitchen sponge.
Yep ... mine too! My sponge starts to smell like an old musty scout camp tent in the rain! ewww! then we toss it into ... the DISWASHER to "sterilize" it! ;)
I "sterilize" our toothbrushes in the dishwasher...
Pssst. Reparations,
Actually it was NOT Bush that dropped an atomic bomb the first time. It was Harry Truman during the time of WW-2. You still can't go into parts of New Mexico for more then a couple of minutes. They have been testing Atomic and Hydrogen bombs on US owned and other islands for years and years. EVERYONE knows that even Obama.
Listen to your grade school teacher in the next world history class. OK?
This story caused me to examine my own dishwasher's what's-it. And migosh, there was black mold all around it! I spent a half hour cleaning it off with bleach.
sounds to me like she is married to black slime................
Mosquitoes are versitile. I discovered they don't "need" water for their larva; they can breed at the bottom of leaves (never raked or picked up) that remains damp.
This article was released over a week ago and it has already been smashed as being trivial and fearmongering alarmist media. The spores are in such low concentrations that even immuncompromised patients aren't going to have any problems. That also includes babies and the elderly.
The presence of these moulds is not alarming. If you had a mycelium of them producing spores in your air-conditioner, that would be a problem. Having them in the fold of a damp piece of rubber is to be expected. How this even makes the news astounds me. Write about something worthwhile instead of drudging up third-hand blog posts days after the report has been published and shamed.