I've had a cookie sheet for a long time. Last month, my dishwasher broke and I forgot about the few dishes that were still inside, including my cookie sheet. I also didn't know that the repair guy left water in the bottom of machine. Water that could get really gross.
Long story short, the dishwasher got very gross and smelly over the course of a month, and when I went to clean the cookie sheet, it was covered with some sort of mold. Not entirely covered, but in quite a few places. And when I tried cleaning the pan, the low pressure coming from the faucet was enough to start stripping off the nonstick lining on the pan. It just started peeling off. And it did that in a few places, so I decided to throw it away.
The question is: What ate my cookie sheet, and should I be worried about the rest of my dishware? What about my health?
2006-12-24 14:49:08 · 4 answers · asked by Doctor Biobrain 3 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Chemistry
The non-stick was removed due to corrosion. The basic formation of rust in that high-humidity environment was enough to destroy the thin layer that bonded the non-stick to the metal.
As far as the dishwasher, I'd call it a loss. The bacteria that is living in there has had time to creep into the deepest recesses of the machine and the hot water from your water heater will not be hot enough to kill it (160 degrees minimum). This could leave your dishes vulnerable to bacteria and harm your health.
The dishes sould be fine as long as you soak them for a few minutes in a mixture of 1/4 cup bleach and 1 gallon of hot water and then rinse them thoroughly.
2006-12-24 14:58:35 · answer #1 · answered by Kilowatt 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
If there was mold growing on the sheet, let's make an analogy to not brushing your teeth for a month. They would have mold growing on them too and some really neat cavities underway. What causes that? Growth of mold and bacteria is accompanied by the production of acid which is how the little beasties get their nourishment (just like your own stomach). This acid would penetrate small pinholes in the non-stick coating and react with the aluminum base material, dissolving it and allowing the coating to come loose. Any metal in the washer could be subject to this. Glass, etc. should not be affected and washing them should make them OK. The washer itself might remain kind of funky until you have run it several cycles. You might want to put some chlorine bleach (Chlorox) in it while you run it a few times and then run it a few more times to get rid of the chlorine odor.
2006-12-24 17:13:40 · answer #2 · answered by kentucky 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
My first guess would be that your dishwasher broke mid-cycle, meaning that soap was left on the dishes. If that's the case then the soap is probably what ate your cookie sheet -- at least the non-stick coating part of it. As for the rest of your dishes, as long as they weren't of the non-stick variety you should be ok, just make sure you wash and rinse them quite thoroughly. If there was a health problem you would likely know by now.
2006-12-24 14:56:27 · answer #3 · answered by oldironclub 4 · 2⤊ 0⤋
It is caused by some sort of oxidization with the metal in the cookie sheet. If the others are made of metal, remove them. I don't think oxidized metal is going to affect your health.
2006-12-24 15:21:06 · answer #4 · answered by Bao L 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋