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Does the added convenience come at a price? Dishwasher rinse aids are suspected of triggering various chronic diseases, and one ingredient is considered potentially toxic.
It saves a lot of time and water and makes housework much easier: the dishwasher. Especially because nowadays, thanks to modern detergents, the machine can usually get to grips with even the worst soiling. And the rinse aid makes the dishes shine again without polishing.
Rinse aid can damage the protective layer in the gut
However, according to standard.at, rinse aid is now suspected of being dangerous for our gastrointestinal tract. Specifically, the ingredient in question is alcohol ethoxylate, which can damage the intestinal epithelial layer, according to the results of a study recently published by the University of Zurich in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology.
These cells are an inner protective layer of the intestine, which also determines what passes into the body. The skin and lungs also have epithelial layers.
Study leader Cezmi Akdis, professor of experimental allergology and immunology at the University of Zurich and director of the Swiss Institute for Allergy and Asthma Research, has researched this field for two decades and helped develop the so-called epithelial barrier hypothesis.
Cause of many chronic diseases?
Defective epithelial barriers are thought to be linked to the development of chronic diseases such as food allergies, gastritis, diabetes, obesity, liver cirrhosis, multiple sclerosis, chronic depression, Alzheimer’s disease, and many more.
Apparently, chemicals and additives that we use daily—such as the non-ionic surfactant alcohol ethoxylate—damage epithelial barriers.
The study showed that even small amounts of rinse aid containing alcohol ethoxylate make the epithelial barrier in the intestine more permeable. At high concentrations, the cells even die. This means that rinse aid can trigger inflammation if it is not rinsed off thoroughly. This is because the chemical is absorbed the next time the dishes are used.
These alternatives are available
For private households, however, the all-clear can be given—to a certain extent. Professional commercial dishwashers, in particular, lack a rinse cycle at the end of the wash program, which would completely wash away the rinse aid. According to utopia.de, most of these machines need just two minutes for a wash cycle and only use a minimum of water.
Alternatively, you can also use a rinse aid without alcohol ethoxylate or do without it completely. Possible alternatives that can be tested include vinegar or citric acid.
Sources used: gentside.de/standard.at/utopia.de/picture: Image by Aritha from Pixabay
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