..and more fungi
When I purchase used dishwashers, the first thing I do is partially dissassemble them and thoroughly clean various parts with a toothbrush and bleach.
More often than not, I fund some form of fungus/mold growth somewhere. Some is just the typical black mold on the bottom of the door seal. But, especially on GE's, I have noticed a hairy type fungus/mold (like you see on food you forgot about in the refrigerator.) on the underside of the water level float and hidden side of the sump grate.
I am sure many of you have encountered the same.
Most people don't think to pull the float out or unscrew the sump grate and look on the underside. Back when some DW detergents had chlorine in them, this may have been less of an issue.
However, I don't recall any older GE's, that I have bought, that didn't have these
nasty looking deposits tosome extent. My guess is that food residue build up on the underside and serves as a growth medium for the fungi spores, aided by warmth and moisture.
Regardless,it's very nasty looking.
When cleaning two or three machines at once,I usually just takes the parts out and put them in my good dishwasher in the kitchen with a little bleach and it scrubs all these nasties away quite nicely.
Whether or not anyone has ever developed health issues from fungi spores left on dishes, I don't know. It doesn't seem probable, unless someone had large amounts of fungal growth all over the inside of the machine. The rare exception might be theindividual who has a hyper sensitive allergic reaction to mold.
The press like to sell their papers and the writers their magazines, and TV news programs like to have viewers. Thus, they tend to write stories that get us at the emotional level. I think this axiom holds true in Europe as well as the U.S.
People are people.
