‘We don’t eat our countertops,’ yet many Americans are using cleaning products meant for fruits and

[libertybele]

‘We don’t eat our countertops,’ yet many Americans are using cleaning products meant for fruits and vegetables, National Poison Control Center official says

Shortages of cleaning supplies amid the coronavirus pandemic are leading many Americans to get creative. But that creativity and compulsion to clean and disinfect more may be causing more harm than good.

Last month, calls to poison control centers surged by nearly 20% compared to the same period in 2019, according to a report released earlier this week by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

One of the cases highlighted in the CDC’s report involved a woman who “heard on the news to clean all recently purchased groceries before consuming them.”

“She filled a sink with a mixture of 10% bleach solution, vinegar, and hot water, and soaked her produce.” Shortly after, she was transported to the emergency room due to difficulty breathing.

Cleaning products meant for surfaces should never be used on produce.

“The key point of this vignette is that bleach should never be mixed with another cleaning chemical, or it will generate a toxic gas,” said Diane Calello, the medical director of the New Jersey Poison Information and Education System, and one of the authors of the report.......

https://www.marketwatch.com/story/we-dont-eat-our-countertops-yet-many-americans-are-using-cleaning-products-meant-for-them-on-their-fruits-and-vegetables-says-national-poison-control-center-official-2020-04-24?mod=home-page

[PeteS in CA]

"Last month, calls to poison control centers surged by nearly 20% compared to the same period in 2019, according to a report released earlier this week by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention."

Last month? Not less than a week ago?

That said, how dumb can people be?!

[libertybele]

"Last month, calls to poison control centers surged by nearly 20% compared to the same period in 2019, according to a report released earlier this week by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention."

Last month? Not less than a week ago?

That said, how dumb can people be?!

Well, that can be said for Cuomo's wife -- she soaked in bleach.    These reports seem to be surfacing after the dispute over Trump's suggestion of injecting with disinfectant.  Coincidence? 

[Applewood]

Sheesh!

My mother used to wash her produce with dish detergent or some mild soap.  Me?  I'm lucky if I remember to rinse it under cold water.

[Cyber Liberty]

Sheesh!

My mother used to wash her produce with dish detergent or some mild soap.  Me?  I'm lucky if I remember to rinse it under cold water.

Why ruin all that great wax they spray on the apples?

[The_Reader_David]

The problem wasn't the bleach, it was combining bleach and vinegar, thereby subjecting herself to a chlorine gas attack.  We all knew about this when we were kids.  It's almost surprising no one tried to turn our junior high into a mini-Ypres by dumping the mixture into the heating ducts.

[Smokin Joe]

The problem wasn't the bleach, it was combining bleach and vinegar, thereby subjecting herself to a chlorine gas attack.  We all knew about this when we were kids.  It's almost surprising no one tried to turn our junior high into a mini-Ypres by dumping the mixture into the heating ducts.

If the 'right' people had known more chemistry in my first HS, it would have been done. The rest of us would not consider it.

[mortarman]

I remember my dad eating radishes jus' pulled out of the ground from the garden. He'd jus' wipe the dirt off of them, cut the root off with his jackknife an' bite into 'em. The guy turns 87 in July.

 
 

[Smokin Joe]

I remember my dad eating radishes jus' pulled out of the ground from the garden. He'd jus' wipe the dirt off of them, cut the root off with his jackknife an' bite into 'em. The guy turns 87 in July.

 

Yep, and rubbing the dust off a tomato, just picked, and eating it...(we actually carried those little salt shakers in our pockets when we were kids).

[Polly Ticks]

Yep, and rubbing the dust off a tomato, just picked, and eating it...(we actually carried those little salt shakers in our pockets when we were kids).

Oh, man, you are making me hungry.  There is nothing better on earth than a ripe tomato right off the vine.

[catfish1957]

Biggest symptom of this Pandemic?  The absolute free fall of "common sense"

[catfish1957]

I remember my dad eating radishes jus' pulled out of the ground from the garden. He'd jus' wipe the dirt off of them, cut the root off with his jackknife an' bite into 'em. The guy turns 87 in July.

 

I remember as a child seeing my grandmother making pancakes and the flour had a tad of movement in it.  I said "Mee-Maw, I don't want pancakes with bugs in it." (weevils). I then got a history lesson that her generation and all of our ancestors would have starved if a little added wildlife would have be considered "ruined food".  Life today has become way too sterile, and I think to a certain degree it has hurt our ability to fight infections.

[catfish1957]

Oh, man, you are making me hungry.  There is nothing better on earth than a ripe tomato right off the vine.

I'm that way with Okra.  Wife complains that there's never enough to cook.

[Bigun]

If you ever live overseas you WILL learn how to wash any produce you buy I'll assure you!.

[musiclady]

“She filled a sink with a mixture of 10% bleach solution, vinegar, and hot water, and soaked her produce.” Shortly after, she was transported to the emergency room due to difficulty breathing.

I know I shouldn't laugh, but....................   

[catfish1957]

I know I shouldn't laugh, but....................

No shortage of Darwin Award nominees this year for sure.

[musiclady]

Yep, and rubbing the dust off a tomato, just picked, and eating it...(we actually carried those little salt shakers in our pockets when we were kids).

Wild rhubarb pulled right out of the ground, fresh blackberries in the woods, raw corn on the cob in a cornfield, and now I have an immune system that can fight off anything! 

That's part of the reason I let my kids play in the woods, get muddy and chew on grass.

Too much sterilization makes for weak kids.

[catfish1957]

Wild rhubarb pulled right out of the ground, fresh blackberries in the woods, raw corn on the cob in a cornfield, and now I have an immune system that can fight off anything! 

That's part of the reason I let my kids play in the woods, get muddy and chew on grass.

Too much sterilization makes for weak kids.

My thoughts exactly.  I spent much of my early days getting muddy, playing in dirt, grass, etc. 

I now see my grandchildren being raised, where they pretty much never get dirty.  Has anyone noticed that the virus seems to be less impactful on Mexico thus far?  That may not be an accident or a statistical flaw. 

[musiclady]

My thoughts exactly.  I spent much of my early days getting muddy, playing in dirt, grass, etc. 

I now see my grandchildren being raised, where they pretty much never get dirty.  Has anyone noticed that the virus seems to be less impactful on Mexico thus far?  That may not be an accident or a statistical flaw.

Hmmmm............... food for thought............ (so to speak)..

[Applewood]

Wild rhubarb pulled right out of the ground, fresh blackberries in the woods, raw corn on the cob in a cornfield, and now I have an immune system that can fight off anything! 

That's part of the reason I let my kids play in the woods, get muddy and chew on grass.

Too much sterilization makes for weak kids.

I agree.  My mother was a clean freak and she would get into a tizzy every time my brother would come home covered in mud and who knows what after playing with his buddies in the woods behind our house.  My father would say, "Mary, he's a boy.  Boys are supposed to get dirty." 

I'm a girl, but I wasn't much better.  And that really freaked out Mom.  Cleanliness, to the extent Mom practiced it, was one trait I did not inherit from her.   LOL

[musiclady]

I agree.  My mother was a clean freak and she would get into a tizzy every time my brother would come home covered in mud and who knows what after playing with his buddies in the woods behind our house.  My father would say, "Mary, he's a boy.  Boys are supposed to get dirty." 

I'm a girl, but I wasn't much better.  And that really freaked out Mom.  Cleanliness, to the extent Mom practiced it, was one trait I did not inherit from her.   LOL

Girls are supposed to get muddy too. 

My Mom was also a clean freak whose qualities I didn’t inherit.

I think lots of our Depression Moms were super clean.  I did have one friend whose Mom was super messy, and I loved playing at her house!

[Smokin Joe]

Oh, man, you are making me hungry.  There is nothing better on earth than a ripe tomato right off the vine.

Two of 'em?

[Smokin Joe]

I remember as a child seeing my grandmother making pancakes and the flour had a tad of movement in it.  I said "Mee-Maw, I don't want pancakes with bugs in it." (weevils). I then got a history lesson that her generation and all of our ancestors would have starved if a little added wildlife would have be considered "ruined food".  Life today has become way too sterile, and I think to a certain degree it has hurt our ability to fight infections.

That's what a sifter was for, to get the weevils out.

That way if there were any which made it through the screen, you only had to deal with the lesser of all weevils.

[Smokin Joe]

Wild rhubarb pulled right out of the ground, fresh blackberries in the woods, raw corn on the cob in a cornfield, and now I have an immune system that can fight off anything! 

That's part of the reason I let my kids play in the woods, get muddy and chew on grass.

Too much sterilization makes for weak kids.

[Smokin Joe]

Girls are supposed to get muddy too. 

My Mom was also a clean freak whose qualities I didn’t inherit.

I think lots of our Depression Moms were super clean.  I did have one friend whose Mom was super messy, and I loved playing at her house!

Mom was not a clean freak, she just didn't like the feel of sand on a tile floor. We'd wash off on the step...and then wash the sand off the steps. She still keeps a clean house, but between the farm pastures, fields, the river, the creek, and the marsh, we got dirty. (She did more than her share of mending, too.)