# Do all those germs in your kitchen sink's sponge constitute a health problem? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 30, 2014, 1:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-all-those-germs-in-your-kitchen-sinks-sponge-constitute-a-health-problem/699964 "2014-09-30T13:07:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2014, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-all-those-germs-in-your-kitchen-sinks-sponge-constitute-a-health-problem/699964/21 "2014-10-01T14:19:38Z")
> [@Shakes](#): > > I’m not sure what you’re saying here. You seem to be contradicting yourself in the same paragraph. Salmonella does cause diarrhea. Do a lot of people suffer from diarrhea? Is the rate higher among people who use sponges in their kitchen? ---
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2014, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-all-those-germs-in-your-kitchen-sinks-sponge-constitute-a-health-problem/699964/22 "2014-10-01T16:22:11Z")
> [@Procrustus](#): > > Do a lot of people suffer from diarrhea? Is the rate higher among people who use sponges in their kitchen? I don’t know. I’m just trying to point out the fact that most people don’t share that information with the world when they do get it. ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2014, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-all-those-germs-in-your-kitchen-sinks-sponge-constitute-a-health-problem/699964/23 "2014-10-01T17:26:00Z")
When I was in first grade, my teacher warned all the boys and girls not to lick their pencil, because there are germs on the pencil lead. As far as I know, there has never been a case of any person requiring medical attention as a consequence of licking their pencil lead. Which, for one thing, is not made of lead, but inert graphite. And another thing, every time your pencil is sharpened or even used, any material that has been exposed to any possible source of germs gets scrubbed off. But who’s to argue with their first grade teacher? What you learned in first grade stays fixed in your data banks for the rest of your life, no matter how wrong it is. So, how much more reliable is your factual source of the intelligence that there is a measurable risk to your health by having kitchen sponges that are not clinically sterile? ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2014, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-all-those-germs-in-your-kitchen-sinks-sponge-constitute-a-health-problem/699964/24 "2014-10-01T18:16:34Z")
> [@Isilder](#): > > There is actual evidence. > > Your lungs collect stuff out of the air. Your lungs are also a great environment for bacteria to grow. The stuff , and the bacteria laden fluids, are then pushed up the airway in phlegm, which is then pushed into your esophagus. This phelgm is green to grey, with dirt, mould spores, bacteria and other bugs in it. Litres of it each day go into your stomach… > > The few bugs that you might pick up from bacteria left behind from the putrid sponge/dish cloth count for NOTHING compared to the amount coming out from you lungs… Huh? Pathogenic E Coli, Listeria, and Salmonella are not coming out of your lungs or commonly being breathed in. > [@Shakes](#): > > I’m not sure what you’re saying here. You seem to be contradicting yourself in the same paragraph. Salmonella does cause diarrhea. Salmonella causes acute severe diarrhea, not chronic, which what the post I responded to seemed to be implying … or constipation. Salmonella is typically severe enough that one gets medical attention for it and it gets diagnosed and is reported and sources investigated. I don’t need to see much in the way of evidence to personally believe that a sponge used to wipe up the blood from ground beef or raw chicken should be washed and either put in the dishwasher or microwaved before used on other surfaces or utensils. And I am not so worried about a sponge not used for wiping those things. But those are IMHOs not GQ worthy answers. As a GQ we can only answer that the evidence that the levels of bacteria commonly found on kitchen sponges presents any real health risk is apparently lacking. ---
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2014, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-all-those-germs-in-your-kitchen-sinks-sponge-constitute-a-health-problem/699964/25 "2014-10-01T18:38:43Z")
> [@DSeid](#): > > Huh? > > Salmonella causes acute severe diarrhea, not chronic, which what the post I responded to seemed to be implying … or constipation. Salmonella is typically severe enough that one gets medical attention for it and it gets diagnosed and is reported and sources investigated. > > I don’t need to see much in the way of evidence to personally believe that a sponge used to wipe up the blood from ground beef or raw chicken should be washed and either put in the dishwasher or microwaved before used on other surfaces or utensils. And I am not so worried about a sponge not used for wiping those things. But those are IMHOs not GQ worthy answers. As a GQ we can only answer that the evidence that the levels of bacteria commonly found on kitchen sponges presents any real health risk is apparently lacking. Okay, thanks for clearing that up. I was under the impression that diarrhea from Salmonella covered the whole spectrum from acute to severe. (Usually depending on one’s age.) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-all-those-germs-in-your-kitchen-sinks-sponge-constitute-a-health-problem/699964.md?page=1)