re: bleach - you get total sterilization with a 20 minute soak of 1:5 bleach:water mix, and pretty damn close with half that concentration. Let's see how much time physan saves us:
well, touché, physan takes half as long as bleach. 10 mins vs 20 mins.
since you brought it up, IMO a quick scrub and soak soak is all you need to properly sanitize things.
let's not forget soap and water are also very, very effective when combined with scrubbing.
not sure where the mircophobia might come in here. the idea that "all microbes are killers" leads to the problem of "all microbes left standing are killers". it's a self-fulfilling prophecy - infection from sterility. microbial populations, like everything in nature, tend to achieve moderation. So absent humans and their antibiotics, for instance, E. coli is not so virulent. It's in your guts, doing just fine, making a living, and not bothering you.
What's more, when artificial selection for virulence and resistance to controls is removed from the picture, the traits themselves are extinguished, as they confer no competitive advantage even as they cost the organism in terms of energy and resources.
Am I saying to ban all antibiotics or antibacterial agents? No, just saying we need to understand better when sterility is best (canning food for instance), and when it's better to have diversity (gardening).
There are also times when it's a matter of keeping your gear running well. In the case of a tea brewer, I could care less if it is sterile. You have to clean the damn things or the bioslime will grow and grow. But it isn't going to hurt your plants any more than the bioslime that is (hopefully) all over your soil. You want those polysaccharides!
well, touché, physan takes half as long as bleach. 10 mins vs 20 mins.
since you brought it up, IMO a quick scrub and soak soak is all you need to properly sanitize things.
let's not forget soap and water are also very, very effective when combined with scrubbing.
not sure where the mircophobia might come in here. the idea that "all microbes are killers" leads to the problem of "all microbes left standing are killers". it's a self-fulfilling prophecy - infection from sterility. microbial populations, like everything in nature, tend to achieve moderation. So absent humans and their antibiotics, for instance, E. coli is not so virulent. It's in your guts, doing just fine, making a living, and not bothering you.
What's more, when artificial selection for virulence and resistance to controls is removed from the picture, the traits themselves are extinguished, as they confer no competitive advantage even as they cost the organism in terms of energy and resources.
Am I saying to ban all antibiotics or antibacterial agents? No, just saying we need to understand better when sterility is best (canning food for instance), and when it's better to have diversity (gardening).
There are also times when it's a matter of keeping your gear running well. In the case of a tea brewer, I could care less if it is sterile. You have to clean the damn things or the bioslime will grow and grow. But it isn't going to hurt your plants any more than the bioslime that is (hopefully) all over your soil. You want those polysaccharides!
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It is produced for 40 centuries with the same recipe.
