Danger of breathing in steam--chance of reinfection.

@fdixon63 Hi Faye, Maybe you are over thinking things here?
The steam from your dishwasher was generated using detergent and HOT water, typically over 140f, for over 30 minutes. Mycobacteria doesn't survive there.

The grunge in your sink/strainer can be washed away using dish detergent and a brush or scrubbie - or run the strainer through the dishwasher like I do.

The steam from boiling water also shouldn't be an issue - again NTM is thermo-sensitive above 130f.

Remember the goal is to minimize risk - you can't truly eliminate exposure without living in a bubble. I concentrate my effort on keeping the air I breathe cleaner - no outdoor shoes carrying in soil, good air cleaners, mask up when gardening or in indoor crowds...

Sue

Thanks Sue. Just had to run these thoughts by this group of knowledgeable folks. Maybe I'll hold my breath when opening the dishwasher anyway--just for fun.

When I clean my nebulizer, I soak it in warm/hot tap water from the faucet, then rinse with warm/hot tap water. I imagine the temperature doesn't reach 130 degrees because it doesn't feel that hot to touch. During this process, there's visible steam under my face. I'm worried about NTM exposure from this.

@six5532one Remember, you cannot eliminate exposure to NTM without living in a sterile bubble, so you need to consider the relative risk of each activity. Risk is a calculation, time exposed X amount inhaled. That means a few seconds of exposure while dropping the equipment into hot soapy water is very low risk. Just wait to scrub until the water cools. There is no reason to use hot water for rinsing if you are going to sterilize the equipment afterwards, further reducing risk.
On the list of steam/mist exposures to worry about, if you call breathing in unfiltered shower steam as #10, this would undoubtedly be #99 or lower.

@sueinmn my understanding is soaking in hot instead of room-temperature water results in more effective biofilm removal. But I wonder how important it is to rinse with warm instead of room-temperature water on the days I don't sterilize it.

@sueinmn you scrub ?

@cholash With a (sterilizable) silicone brush. This disrupts any film so it can rinse away. I also scrub all reusable water bottles, lids, straws the same way. These are sanitized (not sterilized) on the sanitize cycle in my dishwasher.

From what Dr Joe Falkinham said, from what I can remember, is that you cannot get germs from STEAM, just aerosolized water particles. Big difference.

@sueinmn thank you . These are things I’m not doing . Would you happen to have a link, or name , of the brush you use ?
Also , did someone tell you to wash this way. When I was at National Jewish , “scrubbing “ was never brought up.

@cholash My thoughts to share until Sue has a chance to answer. Unless you are making your own brush (Ha!) I would imagine the different types of brushes bought new will do...It's just a matter of finding the right size brush for the job. I use a bottle brush I found at Walmart for bottles and if I was scrubbing my 'medical tools" for Bronchiectasis I would think a toothbrush would possibly be helpful???? Of course there are the vegetable scrubbing brushes also. Hope this helps with the thoughts of brushes for the job at hand.
Barbara