Dishwasher detergents contaminate food and damage the intestines

Detergents used in dishwashers remain in trace amounts on dishes and can be harmful to human health, according to a new study.

In commercial dishwashers, hot water and detergent are sprayed onto dirty dishes and cutlery under high pressure, cleaning them (in most cases) in as little as 60 seconds. The next cycle includes a 60 second rinse with water, which completes the cleaning process. This is followed by quick drying.

“What is particularly worrying is that many devices do not have an additional rinse cycle to remove chemical residue,” said study leader Prof. Chezmi Akdis, director of the Swiss Institute for Allergy and Asthma Research (SIAF). Substances that may be poisonous are dried and left on the dishes until the next meal. This chemical residue can then easily end up in the human intestine.

The intestinal epithelium is the “shield” that covers the intestinal tract and controls what enters the body. Violations of this barrier are associated with various diseases, including diabetes, allergies, rheumatoid arthritis, gastritis, cirrhosis of the liver, multiple sclerosis, autism spectrum disorders, chronic depression, and Alzheimer’s disease. “Defects in epithelial barriers (“leaky gut”) could increase the risk of chronic disease in billions of people,” says Akdis.

We used an organoid, a three-dimensional model of a cell culture on a microchip that imitates the human intestinal epithelium. Models have been exposed to commercial detergents and rinse aids diluted to concentrations found in dry dishes (1/10,000 to 1/40,000). The study showed that at higher concentrations of leaching agents can kill epithelial cellsand at lower concentrations they increase the permeability of the “protective barrier”. Cleaners also activated various genes and proteins, causing inflammation in the body.

Additional work has shown that rinse aid chemical called ethoxyl alcoholprimarily causes damage to the intestines.

Adkis hopes his work will be noticed as it is important for public health. People should be informed because ethoxylated alcohols are often used in commercial dishwashers.

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