Klarinet Archive - Posting 000796.txt from 1997/03

From: Bill Edinger <wde1@-----.EDU>
Subj: reeds, germs, and Micro 101 (highly off-topic)
Date: Mon, 24 Mar 1997 11:25:01 -0500

I was afraid of this. As a former microbiology instructor, I should have
known that this could get complicated real fast, but here's an attempt at
some clarification/simplification. I will warn you though: 1) this is 99
percent off-topic, and 2) If you are inclined to become paranoid about
infection and germs, skip this whole thing.
Streptococci (singular: streptococcus) are Gram-positive bacteria (NOT a
virus), many kinds of which normally and innocently reside in your mouth.
Everybody has at least some. There are some types that can cause disease,
like the proverbial "strep throat," and they can be treated with
antibiotics. Generally, antibiotics aren't used for viral infections
(which cause most sore throats), except to stop any subsequent bacterial
infection, or if the prescribing physician doesn't want to take the time to
do a throat culture and find out what is in there (talk about being
off-topic!).
In spite of popular beliefs, alcohol is a very poor antiseptic agent - when
they rub your arm before taking your blood, the alcohol swab is 99 percent
as a cleansing agent, not an antiseptic (actively germ-killing) agent.
Having said that, alcohol is still very effective in cleaning the crud that
carries the germs (bacteria and viruses). I would highly recommend using
it to clean mouthpieces and even reeds.
Hydrogen peroxide works by breaking down into water and oxygen gas, and the
oxygen oxidizes whatever it touches, including your skin. The 3 percent
you buy at the store is weak enough to sell over-the-counter, but probably
won't even reach the bacteria inside the reeds, and besides, streps are
fairly resistant to it - it's more to kill anaerobic bacteria that cause
things like tetanus and gangrene (is this far off-topic or what?). Again,
it bubbles nicely and helps in cleaning, but is a lousy antiseptic for most
things.
To prevent re-infection from your own reeds (is everyone paranoid by now?),
think of toothbrushes: they should be replaced frequently, because you can
re-infect yourself, but you can also disinfect them to some extent. Just
don't use anything you wouldn't be willing to rinse your mouth with (like
clorox or phenol or ammonia). Cepacol and Lavoris and other such
mouthwashes are safe and effective and may even make your reeds taste nice,
and the same for your mouthpiece (although alcohol would be just as good -
mpcs are nice and smooth and can be thoroughly cleaned - not like cane,
which has a million tubes to harbor bacteria). The one problem I see is
that the alcohol and other cleaning agents in them would probably also
accelerate the aging process of the reed (such as by leaching out pectins
and gummy lignins), so storing reeds in a diluted mouthwash might keep them
sterile, but it might ruin them too. On the other hand, I've read on the
list where some people think an alcohol treatment actually makes reeds last
longer. What we need is some good scientific data instead of anecdotal
evidence.
I don't know what music dealers use to sterilize mouthpieces, but I'll try
to find out.
What will I do? I don't intend to attempt to disinfect any reeds at all. I
think it's all a lot of unnecessary worry. You're SUPPOSED to have
bacteria in your mouth, and a few in your reeds are inevitable. It's
probably far less trouble to change reeds a little more often than to try
to play around with sterilants and so on which may only shorten their
playing time further. In the meantime, I'll try to contact the researchers
mentioned in the Science News article and see if they've come up with
anything else.

Bill Edinger

______________________
William D. Edinger, Ph.D.
Dept. Food Science & Technology
Cornell University
New York State Agricultural Experiment Station
Geneva, NY 14456-0462
ph. 315-787-2277
fax 315-787-2284
wde1@-----.edu

   
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