How microwave can beat the bugs in your kitchen - World - Times Online

How microwave can beat the bugs in your kitchen - World - Times Online:

"A team of environmental engineers from the University of Florida has found that two minutes in a microwave can sterilise most household sponges after use, killing more than 99 per cent of the harmful bacteria that cause illness.

In a study published this week in the American Journal of Environmental Health, the researchers soaked sponges and scrubbing pads in dirty water that contained faecal bacteria such as E. coli, viruses, protozoan parasites and bacterial spores. They then used a common household microwave oven to heat up the sponges. It took between four and ten minutes to kill all the spores, but everything else was killed after two minutes, they said"