[sergioisidoro]

Ok, this is posed to generate some sensationalist headlines. Do we get these concentrations with regular use in a dishwasher? Does it have cumulative exposure effects? Does it even reach the gut lining after digestion enzymes and acids?

From the summary it seems that they only investigated the dose dependent toxicity.

[rafaelferreira]

The summary says "detergent residue from professional dishwashers demonstrated the remnant of a significant amount of cytotoxic and epithelial barrier–damaging rinse aid remaining on washed and ready-to-use dishware", which might address the question about concentrations in regular use.

[sergioisidoro]

For me the word remnant confuses me.

I interpreted it as "leftovers of a significant amount" not a "significant amount of leftovers", meaning that it was used in high quantities, but only remnants (in non significant amounts) were found.

[Zandikar]

You shouldn't assume remnant means "non significant", just "fewer"/"less than" what you started with. If only 5% of the substance remains (aka, the remnants) is still enough to cause problems, those are remnants by definition, but could still be significant amounts in terms of their (chance of) effects/impact.

Side note, those numbers are entirely arbitrary to illustrate the point, not meant to be indicative in anyway of how much is actually left in the processes above.

[pierat]

You can say that, but a lot of detergents and rinse aids use the class of nasty chemicals. But there's detergents and rinse aids that don't have it.

What you're looking for is "Alcohol ethoxylates". Avoid these.

[instagib]

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=33822149

11 months ago. Direct copy of linked study.

I stopped using extra shine mode on my Bosch dishwasher to save a little rinse aid. Noticed no difference. Vinegar ruined the seals and had to replace it.