I live in a neighborhood that requires the pickup of dog feces. I use a plastic sandwich bag into which I put my hand, grab the waste, and then pull the bag around it for easy disposal. This works very well. In over 2 years my skin has NEVER made contact with the waste. But after doing this on a walk with my dog, my girlfriend refuses to hold my hand. So my question is this: Is there any way that holding my hand after I complete the above-described procedure would expose my girlfriend’s hand to anything detrimental from the dog feces? I am almost certain that the answer is NO, but I have noticed that even when I use the zip-type bags (versus the fold-over type) my trash smells. I am anxious for replies.
I have never seen any published results for the permeability of a polyethylene bag by doggie do, but I am very familiar with polyethylene and hydrocarbons (gasoline and such).
Typically the smaller molecules in fuel slowly slip past the long chain molecules in the PE. This is why for some fuel tanks a crosslinked polyethylene is used, its tighter so to speak.
Polyethylene tanks are routinely used for waste storage, such as RV waste tanks and Porta-Johns. On a chemical resistance chart I have polyethylene is rated excellent against waste.
In other words the material used in your bags is good shit.
One of the first replies, so I won’t quote…
She’s being a bit anal, but I wouldn’t get on her about it. Maybe get one of those hand sanitizer lotions and use that after each poop pick-up.
It’s strange about the zip-lock bags smelling. I thought that was their big claim to fame, that they kept smells and other materials from getting in or getting out. In either case, I wouldn’t be putting them in your indoor trash, but immediately into your outside garbage.