How Long Should Boiling Water Take for Disinfection?

Boiling water disinfection is a simple method of sterilization. To avoid the influence of bacteria or viruses, it is necessary to regularly disinfect commonly used items in daily life, such as bowls, chopsticks, clothing, etc. Especially when family members have infectious diseases, it is even more important to take good disinfection measures. Boiling water disinfection usually takes ten minutes, and bacteria such as Bacillus anthracis spores, Clostridium tetani spores, and Clostridium botulinum spores can be easily killed under high temperature conditions.

High-temperature boiling disinfection is the most common disinfection method. It usually requires boiling for 10 minutes during disinfection. Many germs can be killed through high-temperature disinfection, but two conditions need to be met for high-temperature disinfection to achieve the desired effect: one is the temperature of the action, and the other is the duration of the action. Generally, boiling water at 100℃ can kill all bacterial propagules after 5 minutes, so it is generally advisable to boil for 10 minutes for disinfection. Some special bacteria require longer boiling time for disinfection, such as Bacillus anthracis spores, Clostridium tetani spores, and Clostridium botulinum spores. Therefore, some people use boiling water to rinse their bowls before eating, but due to insufficient action temperature and time, they can only kill a very small number of microorganisms and cannot guarantee the killing of most pathogenic microorganisms. When using boiling water to disinfect glassware and plasticware, it should be noted that glassware needs to be preheated to avoid cracking due to rapid heating. Plasticware should not be disinfected with boiling water to avoid melting and deformation. Clothing in daily life is also not recommended for boiling water disinfection, and chemical disinfection is the most effective way to reduce damage to clothing.

1. Plastic products may deform and release toxic substances after high-temperature heating. Therefore, it is necessary to understand the raw materials of plastic products before heating, as different materials have different high-temperature resistance levels. Currently, most plastic tableware on the market is made of polyethylene and polypropylene, which can withstand high temperatures above 100 degrees, so they are relatively safe to use. When purchasing, it is also recommended to choose products made of these two materials. 2. Clothes should not be disinfected by soaking in high-temperature water. Firstly, clothes may deform after high-temperature treatment, and even after drying, the shape may change. Additionally, heating clothes with high temperature may cause the release of toxic substances, which is harmful to health.