The emergence of dish soap has brought great convenience to washing dishes, but many people believe that washing dishes with dishwashing detergent will leave chemical components on the bowl, which is harmful to the human body.
So, is this concern true?
First of all, the conclusion, as long as we use regular products and the tableware is also rinsed, there is no need to worry.
If you're really worried, you can look at what "chemical ingredients" are in the dish soap .
Usually, the detergent we use every day mainly contains surfactants (such as sodium alkylbenzenesulfonate, sodium fatty alcohol ether sulfate, etc.), flavors and pigments, etc. [1].
(Source: Shenzhen Consumer Council)
Among them, flavors and pigments make the dish soap smell good and look good.
Surfactants are the most abundant ingredients in dish soap (other than water) and the secret to the fact that dish soap can wash dishes.
We all know that water and oil are not originally compatible.
But surfactants are "good" with oil and water, and can bubble up and make them "fuse".
(Source: Network)
In this way, the stubborn oil stains on the plate become easily washed away by the water.
(Source: Giphy)
People's concerns about detergent are mainly from "surfactants".
In fact, it is also reassuring.
First of all, there are many types of surfactants, but only a few groups, after trials and years of practical use have been safely verified, are used by people to make detergent.
Studies have shown that eating surfactant poisoning requires about 8g of surfactant per kilogram of body weight.
Roughly translate, a person weighing 60 kg needs to drink at least a large bucket of undiluted dish soap to be poisoned [2].
Looking around, the equivalent of this toxic dose is edible salt and baking soda.
In addition, there is another layer of insurance -
Our country has strict regulations and standards for the safety of dishwashing detergent, product quality, including the amount of residue that everyone is worried about, and will also conduct regular spot checks.
In terms of safety, the pass rate of testing drawn in recent years is very high, about 100%.
(Source: Guangzhou Municipal Administration of Market Supervision)
If you are really worried, you can usually wash the dishes by paying attention to diluting the dish soap and rinse the dishes with water to the point where it will "squeak" when rubbed with your hands.
In this way, the amount of detergent residue is already minimal, and you can be completely assured!
Of course, you have to buy regular and qualified products!
In the face of a wide range of dish soap products on the market, everyone should polish their eyes:
Choose qualified products from regular stores, and do not buy products made by homemade or small workshops
Before purchasing, check the packaging for regular product information
In particular, we should pay attention to whether the product meets the "GB 14930.1-2015 National Standard for Food Safety Detergent" (hereinafter referred to as the "National Standard").
If it is a class A product, it can be used to wash food, while class B is not recommended for washing vegetables and fruits, and is only suitable for washing dishes [4].
Secondly, look at the sensory indicators, before using detergent, you can first observe whether the detergent has odor, delamination, suspension or precipitation, and qualified products should be none.
Zhimei summarized a table for everyone, which you can save and compare:
(Examples not clearly marked)
Be cautious about buying "food-grade" dish soap, which may not be cost-effective
Now many merchants like to play "food-grade" gimmicks to promote dish soap.
(Source: A shopping platform)
This may be to make everyone think that dish soap is non-toxic and harmless, but in fact, according to China's food safety law, whether it is a class A product or a class B product for washing dishes is safe [5].
In other words, as long as you use regular dish soap and rinse it, you will not be "poisoned", and there is no need to spend a lot of money to buy "food-grade" gimmicks.
Finally, there are some details about using dish soap that are easy to overlook —
1. Wash the dishes
Wear rubber gloves, although dish soap, which is common on the market, does not cause significant damage to the skin [2,3].
However, hands are often exposed to surfactants (washing dishes, washing clothes), which can easily lead to dry skin on the hands, and peeling may occur in autumn and winter;
Wash as soon as possible after meals, if the oil scale is heavy, it is recommended to wipe away food residues and grease with toilet paper first, and then soak it in hot water;
A small amount of dish soap is then scrubbed over a wet sponge or rag, and finally rinsed off with running water.
2. Wash vegetables and fruits
Use a dish soap that meets the "National Standard for Food Safety Detergent" Class A.
Rinse off the dirt on the surface of the vegetables and fruits with water, then add dish soap and soak for 5 to 10 minutes.
It is advisable to add a concentration of about 0.2% (about a basin of water commonly found in the home with half a pump to a pump), or follow the instructions for use of detergent.
After soaking, rinse with running water 2 to 3 times, and then select, cut and other treatments on vegetables and fruits.
3. Do not add water to the dish soap bottle
When the dish soap is almost exhausted, many people will add tap water to it and make it up for a while.
However, unless it is a dish soap specifically designed to dilute the use of dispensing, common household dishwashing detergent is not recommended.
On the one hand, tap water will dilute the active ingredients of detergent, and tap water may contain calcium ions, iron ions, etc., a large number of additions may affect the foaming of detergent, resulting in a decrease in the cleaning ability of the product.
On the other hand, tap water and hands are not sterile, and it is likely that bacteria or impurities will be poured into the water mixing process, so that the tableware fruits and vegetables are "washed and dirty".
Having said all that, I feel that washing dishes is really a very troublesome thing, especially in winter... I hope everyone will get rich quickly and use the dishwasher (including my sister)!
Reviewer
Cloud | heartlessly Ph.D. in Food Engineering, Department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering, Purdue University, USA
bibliography
[1] Smulders E, von Rybinski W, Sung E, et al. (2007). Laundry Detergents. In Ullmann's Encyclopedia of Industrial Chemistry, (Ed.). https://doi.org/10.1002/14356007.a08_315.pub2
Wu Kun,Zhang Xueming,Chen Bingqing. Toxicity test study of clean dish soap[J].Journal of Harbin Medical University,1987(01):51-53.
[3] Austoria AJ, Lakshmi C, Srinivas CR, et al. Irritancy potential of 17 detergents used commonly by the Indian household. Indian J Dermatol Venereol Leprol. 2010 May-Jun;76(3):249-53.
[4] GB 14930.1-2015 National Standard for Food Safety Detergents http://down.foodmate.net/standard/sort/3/48018.html
[5] The Food Safety Law of the People's Republic of China http://www.scio.gov.cn/xwfbh/xwbfbh/wqfbh/2014/20140530/xgzc30921/Document/1371781/1371781.htm
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