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Many of us have a fascination with wood. We admire wood tables and furniture and see wood as a renewable fuel and building material. Our love affair with wood has not been just aesthetic. Wood is less damaging to the blades of knives or carving tools than either plastic or glass.

Over recent years, wood has been criticized by many, including the U.S. Department of Agriculture, as a source of bacteria–the claim being that non-porous surfaces like plastic are less likely to allow bacteria to escape cleaning and, being synthetic, would kill more bacteria. The newest research shows, in the words of Science News, February 6, 1993, pages 84-85, “pathogens prefer plastic.”

University of Wisconsin–Madison microbiologists Dean Cliver and Nese AK were trying to find decontamination techniques that would make wood as safe as plastic. What they found was that, if they innoculated wood boards with either Salmonella, Listeria, or Escherichia coli (all food poisoning agents), 99% of the bacteria died. When put on plastic, none of them died. Left overnight, the plastic bacteria multiplied and none were found on the wood. Innoculating plastic and wood on three consecutive days and leaving them unwashed and at room temperature, the wood had 99.9% fewer bacteria than had been placed on them. In the words of the experimenter, “the plastic boards were downright disgusting.” Wood has anti-bacterial properties that are not found in any man-made material. The researchers have tested maple, birch, beech, black cherry, basswood, butternut, and American black walnut with the same results. Whether it is old or new does not seem to matter.

The U.S.D.A. says that their recommendation of acrylic or other non-porous material was based on common sense and no scientific data. It would appear that, like a lot of other things, the government’s refusal to recognize God and His wisdom and design has gotten them into trouble. God designed wood not just for the beauty and functionality it brings into mankind’s existence, but also to improve our health and well being. One finds a biblical reference in Leviticus 15:12 that indicates the ancients knew of wood’s superiority in cleansing. (Thanks to Linda Ellson for the lead on this article.)

Cora Gail Trent
www.cgtrent.com