You know when you see someone at work doing something that strikes you as a little strange and you try not to stare? People at my office tend to be mostly normal but a few them are little…wacky.
The other day I walked into our break room and saw my co-worker, one I had always considered “normal”, doing such a strange thing. Robin is a registered dietitian and an absolute hoot to be around. If you’re having a bad day, you go to Robin. However, because she’s a RD, she’s got a few unusual habits. Anyways, I walked into the kitchen the other day, and she was sticking a sponge in the microwave!
When I asked her what she was doing she looked at me as if it was the most normal thing in the world, and I was the strange one for not understanding. Robin told me that by zapping sponges in the microwave for a few minutes you could actually kill all of the germs on the sponge.
Much to my dismay I did a little research because well, I’m a little strange as well. I came to find out that’s she’s actually correct! According to a recent study published in the Journal of Environmental Health, zapping sponges and plastic scrubbing pads in the microwave for 2 minutes can kill 99 percent of germs and bacteria, including E. coli. If you zap them for four minutes you kill all of the germs on the sponge. But, you must make sure that the sponge is wet! There have been stories of people breaking their microwaves because they stuck dry sponges in them. Don’t be that person!!
This WebMD article offers the following advice:
Microwave only sponges or plastic scrubbers that do not contain steel or other metals.
Make sure the sponge or scrubber is wet, not dry.
Two minutes should be enough to kill most disease-causing germs.
Be careful in removing the sponge from the microwave because it will be hot and should not be handled immediately after zapping.
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