Hot water and hand washing

From: Strang, Mike (Mike.Strang@us.fjord.com)
Date: Fri Feb 28 2003 - 11:22:53 PST

  • Next message: Hayes, Michael (CAG-FS): "RE: Hot water and hand washing"

    I'm really enjoying the exchanges concerning the use of hot water for hand washing.

    Allow me to add an interesting twist.

    My boss's daughter did a hand washing experiment for a school science project. She used various combinations of water temps, detergents, and contact time to compare total plate counts and ATP swabs.

    The primary conclusion? Contact time was the most important factor. A quick wash with expensive anti-bacterial soap and hot water was not as effective as a 30 second wash with cool water and no soap. Her study was very amateurish, and probably not scientifically valid, but the results were interesting.

    Mike Strang
    Quality Control Manager
    Ducktrap River Fish Farm, LLC
    57 Little River Drive
    Belfast, Maine 04915
    Mike.Strang@us.fjord.com
    Phone: 207 338-6280
    Fax: 207 338-6288

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