KP hygiene

[Trevorum 24]

If Fred posted this previously, I didn't see it...

 

http://www.sciencenews.org/articles/20060826/food.asp

 

A study in Wilderness and Environmental Medicine compares ten common approaches to dishwashing among backpackers and other campers. I was surprised to learn that the way I was taught is wrong!

 

 

[kenk 11]

From "The Scoutmaster Handbook", Chapter 9, Cleaning Up:

 

"Scouts in charge of cleanup can accelerate the process by heating a pot or two of water on the stove or campfire whle the patrol is eating. When the meal ends, the Scouts can set out one pot of hot water containing biodegradable soap, a second pot of clear, hot rinse water, and a pot of cold water with a sanitizing tablet or a few drops of bleach to kill bacteria. If each Scout washes his own dishes and a pot or a cooking utensil, the work will be done quickly and no one will have to spend a long time at it."

 

1. Wash in hot soapy water

2. Rinse in hot clear water

3. Rinse in cool sanitizing solution

4. Allow to air dry in order to avoid re-contamination

 

The bleach water shouldn't be too cold, as that would reduce the chlorine's sanitizing power. Luke-warm water (75F-100F) with 1/2-1 tablespoon of bleach per gallon and allowing the gear to soak for a minute or two is best for sanitizing.

 

We recommend puting the soap container in front of the wash bucket and putting the bleach bottle in front of the sanitizing bucket - just to make sure Scouts use the correct buckets.

 

As soon as the utensils dry, the chlorine will escape as a gas. There should be no residual odor.

 

The wash-sanitize-rinse method isn't recommended as it risks recontamination of untensils in dirty rinse water.

 

Cleaning of hands (washing, wet wipes, or hand sanitizer) is an often missed element of hygeine. Unwashed hands can easily transfer e. coli and other nasties to food, surfaces, and shared serving utensils. A very good practice is to have everyone wash hands before meals - not just the cooks.

[GernBlansten 10]

Interesting that the article didn't indicate that one source of diarrhea is ingested soap residue. My wilderness first aid instructor claimed that most backcountry intestinal distress is caused by incomplete rinsing of dishes, not bacteria.

[epalmer84 10]

>ingested soap residue.

 

I've been told that camp soap won't cause diarrhea, but I cannot find any reference on it.

 

Ed

[Beavah 205]

Yah, it's always interestin' to me the tension between LNT ethic and those lookin' for industrial-kitchen-type sanitation methods for disease prevention.

 

I think most of the time, folks can do just fine without bringin' along the chemicals, a ton of dish soap, and a bunch of buckets. The notion that such a system is appropriate for the AT or any other long backpack is simply laughable.

 

Beavah

 

[Oak Tree 15]

The article does concede that this is most useful for expeditions, not for individual backpackers.

 

But the argument that most folks do just fine doesn't seem to hold up over the long term. There are a number of studies that show that significant percentages of people on long-term treks end up with diarrhea. In this article they mention 56%. I've seen other studies with other, somewhat lower numbers, but it's always a significant number. Some studies find no benefit for treating water, with most illnesses apparently coming from poor hygiene. This article did mention a benefit for treating water.

 

At any rate, the percentage of people who get sick is certainly higher than I'd imagined, and it does seem like a good idea to do what we can to minimize it. There are some lightweight foldable buckets that can work well for group backpacking with Scouts. I do find it hard to imagine doing all this work for yourself.

 

Oak Tree

[Beavah 205]

Yah, here's another article for them that's interested:

 

http://www.newwest.net/index.php/main/article/national_outdoor_leadership_school/

 

It'd be interestin' to try a study to figure out of the reported cases of loose bowels, what percent was microbial, what percent was soap residue, and what percent was the change in foodstuffs and activity level from what the person was used to. I gotta figure that most of it is too short in duration to be microbial, and most of da microbial illness is water related.

 

Havin' kids use and clean their own dishes can help a lot in avoidin' cross-contamination.

 

Boiled hot water is a staple for cleaning and should be used liberally.

 

Beyond that, there's no need for soaps and chemicals if you've got good camp kitchen habits. Too hard to rinse, and just a little bit of soap residue wreaks havoc on your gastro-intestinal critters. Better to leave that stuff at home and keep our wilderness free of such contaminants. LNT and all. 30+ years in the field for me on 5 continents, all with kids in Scoutin' and instructional programs, and never a problem leavin' such stuff out of dishwashin'.

 

Da "three bucket" method comes from food service regulations in most states, eh? That's why some outfitters get forced into usin' it. It's good science for in-town restaurants and such. Problem is, it relies on havin' a plentiful clean water source to start, and assumes yeh have to cross-contaminate all the dishes in the cleanin' process. Neither are true out campin'. It can take a fairly long contact time before that there chlorine kills all the critters in the bucket of water you're usin', especially if you've got a mess of dishes with new critters you're droppin' in for a minute each. Likely as not, you're riskin' more contamination that way.

 

Beavah

 

[GernBlansten 10]

I've been told that camp soap won't cause diarrhea, but I cannot find any reference on it.

 

Tell you what Ed, take a squirt of camp soap between the cheek and gum and get back to us on how your gut feels. Just kidding, but I would be curious the results.

[BrentAllen 10]

Beavah,

Do you have a better link on that article? I'm only getting a comment submission page.

[TAHAWK 1420]

Per the editorial staff of Scouting Magazine, the three step method described above will appear in the new BSHB, consistent with the HBSM and the April Boy's Life article.

 

We have used a cold sanitizing rinse in out Troop since 1982 with no cases of the "runs" we know of in 51 weekend backpackers, fourteen week-long expeditions, three Philmont expeditions, and hundreds of weekend campouts.

 

When backpacking or canoeing, we use the (very) well-scraped large pot as the wash pot (wash in collected rinse water) and rinse with a Sierra cup from clean, hot water from the medium pot. The sanitizing rinse is in a small plastic tub, the only "extra" gear over the method taught in the current BSHB.

 

As implicit in the above, chlorine in a hot first rinse, with the added problems of soap and organic content, is a waste of chlorine.(This message has been edited by TAHAWK)