Your Washing Machine is Trying to Kill You!

By Elester Williams

Your washing machine cleans your clothes, but what cleans it? In 2015 researchers looked at 70 residential washing machines and tested the detergent drawers and rubber door seals for fungi. Given the locations tested it was rather surprising that nearly 80% of the washing machines tested positive for fungi. But even more surprising was that 44% of the fungi belonged to either the Candida, Fusarium, or Exophiala genera, all of which contain opportunistic pathogens. The researchers pointed to the low soap and low water temperature characteristic of high efficiency washing machines as the factor that promotes fungus growth. Strangely enough three machines consistently imparted a bad smell to clothes and when tested for both fungi and bacteria it was discovered that fungi only made up 8% of the microbes. Maybe you should buy a cleaner for your washing machine BEFORE the clothes start to smell, and before your machine tries to kill you... or at least infect you.

From (Babič et al. 2015). Pictures C-G show microbes cultured from the detergent trays (A) and rubber door seals (B). 

 Original article: Babič MN, Zalar P, Ženko B, Schroers H-J, Džeroski S, Gunde-Cimerman N (2015). Candida and Fusarium species known as opportunistic human pathogens from customer-accessible parts of residential washing machines. Fungal Biology 119: 95-113.

For Peat's Sake!

By Elester Williams,

Tropical peatland In Southeast Asia holds the world’s fourth largest peat based organic carbon reservoir covering up to an estimated 27 million hectares. These reservoirs however are being given up for commercial palm oil farming and an estimated 6% of the annual Carbon dioxide released into the air can be traced back to peatland destruction from agriculture. Researchers in 2015 studied the soil microbe community in a previously disrupted peatland to study the ability of scientists to restore damaged lands. The bacterial community showed 10% similarity to the undisturbed forests, the fungal community showed 61% difference, and the archaeal community showed 66% difference. After 3.5 years no major microbial group studied had a community that was considered fully restored (similar to pre-destruction diversity) suggesting peatland restoration efforts may take decades or longer.

From (Nurulita et al 2016). This figure shows the Southeast Asian (Indonesian) peatlands studied.

Original article: Nurulita Y, Adetutu EM, Gunawan H, Zul D, Ball AS (2016). Restoration of tropical peat soils: The application of soil microbiology for monitoring the success of the restoration process. Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment 216: 293-303.