美国国家公共电台 NPR So Your Kitchen Sponge Is A Bacteria Hotbed. Here's What To Do

 

DAVID GREENE, HOST:

For the first time, scientists have figured out just how many tiny critters are living inside your kitchen sponge. Now, don't fear. NPR's Michaeleen Doucleff says there is something you can do about this.

MICHAELEEN DOUCLEFF, BYLINE¹: Imagine for a moment if we could see the bacteria around us, that there were special goggles² you could put on that make the bacteria light up like fireflies. If you put these goggles on and then look around the house, there would be one thing that would light up like gangbusters.

MARKUS EGERT: Your kitchen sponge.

DOUCLEFF: Your kitchen sponge. That's Markus Egert at Furtwangen University in Germany. He recently used DNA³ technology to find all the bacteria living in 14 used sponges. When he estimated how many were there, he was blown away.

EGERT: Locally, the density⁴ of bacteria reached up to 45 billion per square centimeter.

DOUCLEFF: Forty-five billion bacteria in each square centimeter. That sounds like a huge number.

EGERT: That's a very huge number. Actually, there's hardly any habitat on Earth where you'll find similar densities⁵ of bacteria.

DOUCLEFF: In fact, sponges can have just as high concentrations of bacteria as your toilet, which sounds really unappetizing. But remember that just because something has a lot of bacteria in it doesn't mean it's dangerous. There are just a handful of species that cause almost all foodborne illnesses, like E. coli and salmonella. So what matters is which bacteria are there. So did Egert find any of these pathogens in the sponges?

EGERT: No, we did not find pathogens. There might have been some pathogens, but they were - they were just very rare.

DOUCLEFF: Actually, this fits with a previous study. A few years ago, Jennifer Quinlan at Drexel University went into the kitchens of a hundred families in Philadelphia and tested their sponges specifically for foodborne pathogens.

JENNIFER QUINLAN: We were able to find them, but they were rare. One or 2 percent had them.

DOUCLEFF: So do you think that this is a real risk to families? Do you think there - I mean, is there any data showing that a person gets sick from their sponge?

QUINLAN: Unfortunately, you know, that's the big mystery of foodborne illness. Where do we actually get it, right? It's really hard to track back. So what we do is just try to minimize the risk.

DOUCLEFF: Quinlan says there are a few easy things you can do. First off, keep the sponge away from raw meat.

QUINLAN: I would never recommend using a sponge on raw meat juice, for instance. If you're dealing⁶ with raw juices from meat or poultry⁷, you should be using paper that can be disposed of.

DOUCLEFF: Second, don't keep sponges around for too long. Replace them every one to two weeks.

QUINLAN: That's reasonable to me.

DOUCLEFF: Finally, clean the sponge every few days. The USDA recommends putting it in the dishwasher with a heated dry cycle, or wet the sponge and then put it in the microwave for one minute.

QUINLAN: It doesn't sterilize⁸ it. But remember, the ones we want to kill are the E. coli, the salmonella, and those tend to be pretty heat-labile. So if you're sufficiently⁹ heating it then you are likely to get rid of those pathogens.

DOUCLEFF: And at the end of the day, Quinlan says, there's no reason to be afraid of your sponge. It's really not dangerous, and you're much more likely to catch a bug¹⁰ from a sick person at home or work than you are from doing your dishes. Michaeleen Doucleff, NPR News.

1 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

2 goggles   

n.护目镜

参考例句：

• Skiers wear goggles to protect their eyes from the sun.滑雪者都戴上护目镜使眼睛不受阳光伤害。
• My swimming goggles keep steaming up so I can't see.我的护目镜一直有水雾，所以我看不见。

3 DNA   

(缩)deoxyribonucleic acid 脱氧核糖核酸

参考例句：

• DNA is stored in the nucleus of a cell.脱氧核糖核酸储存于细胞的细胞核里。
• Gene mutations are alterations in the DNA code.基因突变是指DNA密码的改变。

4 density   

n.密集，密度，浓度

参考例句：

• The population density of that country is 685 per square mile.那个国家的人口密度为每平方英里685人。
• The region has a very high population density.该地区的人口密度很高。

5 densities   

密集( density的名词复数 )； 稠密； 密度（固体、液体或气体单位体积的质量）； 密度（磁盘存贮数据的可用空间）

参考例句：

• The range of densities of interest is about 3.5. 有用的密度范围为3．5左右。
• Densities presumably can be probed by radar. 利用雷达也许还能探测出气体的密度。

6 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。

7 poultry   

n.家禽，禽肉

参考例句：

• There is not much poultry in the shops. 商店里禽肉不太多。
• What do you feed the poultry on? 你们用什么饲料喂养家禽?

8 sterilize   

vt.使不结果实；使绝育；使无效；杀菌，消毒

参考例句：

• Antiseptic is used to sterilize the skin before giving an injection.杀菌剂被用于在注射前给皮肤消毒。
• He pricks the blister on his heel with a sterilize needle.他用一根消过毒的针扎破他脚后跟上的水泡。

9 sufficiently   

adv.足够地，充分地

参考例句：

• It turned out he had not insured the house sufficiently.原来他没有给房屋投足保险。
• The new policy was sufficiently elastic to accommodate both views.新政策充分灵活地适用两种观点。

10 bug   

n.虫子；故障；窃听器；vt.纠缠；装窃听器

参考例句：

• There is a bug in the system.系统出了故障。
• The bird caught a bug on the fly.那鸟在飞行中捉住了一只昆虫。