Tree Huggers get Their Wish - Samsung "Silver" Washing Machine To Be Regulated

[launderess]

Today, the United States government announced it would begin regulating "silver" technology appliances and such that claim to destroy germs. This will include the Samsung "Silver care" washing machine that claims to kill germs in laundry even when done in cold water without LCB.

Apparently enviromnental groups have been at the EPA to do something about these products, and in what is probably a first for the Bush administration, they have listened.

L.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/11/22/AR2006112201979.html

 

[frigilux]

Interesting. Consumer Reports was also concerned about where the silver was going once it left the machine.

 

[oxydolfan1]

What would be foolish (and what I fully expect) is for elements within government to completely dismiss the concept of silver technology and exploit the very idea of regulation (gasp!) as anathema, thus throwing out the baby with the bath water, out of fear of nanotechnology itself, and maximization of profit for energy and chemical interests.

 

[foraloysius]

According to an article in the German Consumer Magazine until now there is no scientific evidence that the silver is working against the normal bacteria in laundry that have survived the wash process. Acoording to professor Franz Daschner there are at least 30 different kind of bacteries in laundry. But tests were only done with 2 species with one almost never causing infections in normal households. IMHO the whole silver thing is a hype.

 

[peterh770]

Samsung was only capitalizing on American germphobia. Just like Tide saying that it kills 99% of germs when you use a full scoop, when in reality it killed with a 1/2 scoop.

 

[panthera]

not just in the US

The silver coatings hype was popular here in Germany back in the 1990s with "proof" that it killed so and so many bacteria in so and so many minuets on refrigerator shelves, etc.
These things come and go. Now that it has been "proved" that wood is better at killing salmonella than polycarbonate, I suppose it is just a matter of time 'till we all go back to wooden cutting boards.
Until the next "newest" research "proves" the opposite.
Yes, silver is toxic. So is brass.
Ozone, too.
But it is not enough to just wave them at the bacteria - you need contact under the right conditions for the right length of time in order to get anywhere. And the bacterial which do not come into direct contact go their merry way.
I have more faith in the traditional TAE processes which produces enough acid to kill the beasts off.

 

[panthera]

er, minutes not minuets...

sorry 'bout that...

 

[oxydolfan1]

Remember the "antibacterial" craze a few years back?

 

[toggleswitch]

Good!

I'm thinking silver nitrate in the eyes of newborns to prevent blindness from STDs (VD) is sufficient in the universe to that end.

 

[frigilux]

Keven--- I actually conjured a funky, surreal mental picture from your typo: A ballroom full of elegantly dressed people dancing minuets to a live string ensemble as scientists in white smocks fiddled with their experiment of counting bacteria from emerging loads of laundry.

Freudian dream analysts would have a field-day with THAT one, no?

 

[oxydolfan1]

I'm surprised no one's thought of adding silver to our laundry detergents yet...

Look for new "Platinum Tide"!

 

[nasadowsk]

That's nothing. In NJ, you need a discharge permit to wash fruit at a fruit stand.

I know a township that was thinking of a desalinization plant. One reason it was nixed? EPA considers salt to be toxic waste...

It's getting out of hand. Nobody wants to not be 'for the children', no matter how stupid the idea.

On the flip side, discarded nanothings could be an issue, but, uh, let's research and find out, before we ban it? Despite which. Silver? Hey, it's not exactly synthetic, or unknown. Kodak uses a lot of it, I hear...

 

[oxydolfan1]

They may very well have done research on it already, but who knows what research? And who oversees it, anyway?

The EPA's budget has been slashed mercilessly to begin with. I'd be stunned if such research were properly funded at all...

Without proper oversight or trust in the system, the more responsible path is to err on the side of caution, not profit.

God forbid, we should waste forty more years not even trying to get it right the first time.

 

[panthera]

Eugene,

I blush.
My spelling at that time of the day leaves more to be desired than the rest of the time.
I suspect Dr. Fraud et Cie. would have a field day with my mistakes.
Glad someone enjoyed it, at least.

 

[tomturbomatic]

I have read some horror stories extrapolating lab findings about the extreme toxicity of nano buckeyballs of carbon, to what could happen if they were released into the air, so I am not dismissing the fears of nano silver. I knew that copper was used as an algicide, but did not know about silver being toxic to plants. Thanks for the info. With the discharge of silver into the water, killing all of the plants in the water, then maybe on land we would finally be able to participate in the biology teachers' favorite essay question: Which would be worse, to lose the oxygen or lose all of the green plants?
Tom

 

[mistereric]

"On the flip side, discarded nanothings could be an issue, but, uh, let's research and find out, before we ban it? Despite which. Silver? Hey, it's not exactly synthetic, or unknown. Kodak uses a lot of it, I hear..."

Absolutely time for more research. I wonder whats worse for the environment? Silver or detergent? Can silver be removed from wastewater with the same process as regular sewage treatment?

Synthetic isn't always bad, and natural isn't always good- lead is all natural and its a pretty lousy baby food addititive. Mercury is all natural, and yet Berry's Creek in the Meadowlands of NJ is loaded with it... its not supposed to be there, and its sure not good for the ecosystem.

I dunno about all this germ fighting technology. How many people a year get sick because they don't have sterile underpants? Is this really a problem?

 

[MrX]

There seems to be an endless obcession / paranoia about germs. There are ads in the UK and Ireland for various anti-bacterial cleaners that are bordering on the scary.

People need to relax a little bit, you're covered in bacteria, your body's well able to handle it.

If you just wash your clothes normally in normal detergent they'll be quite acceptably hygenically clean.

How clean do your underpants need to be!?

IF this machine is potentially environmentally damaging, it really does need to be regulated.

Are these machines on sale in Europe?
If so, how are EU regulations covering it? We can be even fussier about discharge licences.

 

[MrX]

It does seem that the EU has a big programme to assess the safety of nanoparticles / nanotechnologies

"Nanosafe2"

Also an article about it : http://www.nanowerk.com/news/newsid=1037.php

http://www.nanosafe.org/

 

[cbosch]

silver

I'll settle for soap and hot water rather than metal to clean my clothes. Any germs left will just have to stay!

I quite like our suposed scary anti bacterial cleaners though which ones do you find most scary? My favourite is dettol but cilit bang is also very good