Antibacterial wipes which are biodegradable how?

[ericmark]

The title says it all. If they kill bacteria, how can the bacteria degrade them?

 

[Stivino]

Their bacteria killing lifespan will be limited. After that point, they will be vulnerable to other bacteria. That's just my theory, which might be a lot of poo.

 

[Munroast]

Their bacteria killing lifespan will be limited. After that point, they will be vulnerable to other bacteria. That's just my theory, which might be a lot of poo.

yes - the active anti bacterial chemicals will have a very limited life

I suspect the important thing in the claim is what the material is, too often it is synthetic / man made fibres and they can take centuries to break down in the environment - making them from natural fibres, cotton, wood pulp etc allows them to effectively disappear into the environment very quickly

 

[Alec_t]

Wouldn't the wipes be broken down by fungi, rather than bacteria?

 

[Munroast]

Wouldn't the wipes be broken down by fungi, rather than bacteria?

from my limited understanding, the first part of the 'rotting' process is bacteria, fungi takes over and finishes the job off. they are both microbes but bacteria are smaller and get to work first

I also think the bacteria is also a lot more hardy and adaptable, and it would be the bacteria that eventually brakes down the disinfectants which the more delicate fungi couldn't stomach (if indeed bacteria or fungi have tummies)

 

[IT Minion]

The title says it all. If they kill bacteria, how can the bacteria degrade them?

A lot of 'Biodegradable' things require industrial composting, where temperatures get hot enough to break the products down.

 

[Notch7]

I’ve noticed hospitals seem to use non alcoholic hand gel / foam.

It’s horrible stuff, it stinks.

They had to stop alcoholic based hand gels as alcoholics were stealing them.

 

[MNW67]

Forget that!!!

I was thinking of flushable ones.

 

[ericmark]

fungi takes over and finishes the job off. they are both microbes but bacteria are smaller and get to work first

Since the largest living thing on the planet is a fungus, that is clearly correct.

The largest fungus in the world is an Armillaria ostoyae colony, commonly known as the "humongous fungus" or honey mushroom, located in Oregon's Malheur National Forest. This single organism covers over 2,385 acres (9.6 km²) of forest floor and is estimated to weigh tens of thousands of tons, making it the largest known living organism on Earth.

And they are very tasty.

 

[Munroast]

Since the largest living thing on the planet is a fungus, that is clearly correct. And they are very tasty.

According to the doc I had one growing up my bottom, but it didn't get as big as that - and i have no idea what it tasted of

 

[Ivor Windybottom]

I put one in a jug of water and left it. Absolutely nothing happened. They were cotton. They'll block your drains just as effectively as flushing a pair of jeans down the bog would.

As pointed out at the start, if they really were degradable then the pack would be full of mush.

They're technically bio-degradable, but it's actually greenwashing lies. Only flush poo, pee and paper. Use a foaming cleaning spray on bog roll if you want a genuinely degradable wet wipe.

 

[morqthana]

Blimey - I find myself in agreement with Ivor. Need a sit-down.

No but seriously -

Only flush poo, pee and paper.

And not any paper. Tissues (i.e. the nose-blowing type) do not break up. There's an interesting demo you can do to convince yourself and others of that. Get a large empty glass jar, half-fill it with water, bung in a Kleenex, screw down the lid and give it a good hard shake.

You can give it a good hard shake every day if you want - the tissue will never break up.

 

[morqthana]

The title says it all. If they kill bacteria, how can the bacteria degrade them?

More to the point - why are you using anti-bacterial wipes?

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[Tigercubrider]

A mate of mine was a chemist specialising in paper manufacturing. He spent maybe 5 years working on toilet paper v tissue. He could bore the pants of you talking about the stuff. Bog paper is designed to dissolve, tissue less so. The stuff we had at school was nuclear proof. If they’d clad the Challenger with it everyone would have survived.

 

[Mottie]

Tissues (i.e. the nose-blowing type) do not break up.

I can agree with that. From the Saniflo thread:

Had ours more than 20 years. Only blocked up once when I had a cold, was blowing my nose on Kleenex tissues that are different from toilet tissue and chucked a big wedge of them down there.