Have you ever heard of honey going bad?

Have you ever heard of honey going bad?

(Not talking of your ordinary honey)

While evacuating Egypt’s famous pyramids, archaeologists have found 3000 years old pots of honey. This is the account of the world’s oldest sample of honey and surprisingly it is perfectly edible.

If stored properly, honey could last for a very long time. Now, let me brief you about the composition of honey and why it is so resistant to decomposition.

Considering the solid mass in honey, it consists of 95-99% sugars. Glucose and Fructose (which are the simple ones and can be readily absorbed by our body) represent 85-95% of total sugars.

Credit: Courtesy of Howland Blackston

Honey is a highly concentrated sugar solution and that makes it hygroscopic in nature i.e. it absorbs water.

So, what happens with most of the microorganisms that might end up in honey? The water from their bodies is sucked out. Microorganisms having insufficient amount of water to perform their live processes are bound to die.

Honey has a pH of 3-4.5 which again creates a hostile environment for microorganisms.

To add to this, honeybees release an enzyme- glucose oxidase into honey which converts sugar into gluconic acid and hydrogen peroxide.

All of these properties show that honey can have an eternal (A bit of a stretch?) shelf life if stored properly.

Just don’t let you jar of honey stay open for too long to absorb moisture and be attacked by microorganisms.

Some facts about honey:
(1) Honey has been used as a preservative owning to its bactericidal properties

(2) It can be used in skincare. Honey will absorb moisture from the surroundings and when applied to the skin, it will keep your skin hydrated.

(3) It has been applied to wounds for faster and cleaner healing.

(4) Honey is better than sugar in many aspects and hence, it can be used as a substitute. The key is to not over consume any of the two.



Sources:

[1] http://www.nationalgeographic.com.au/history/honey-in-the-pyramids.aspx
[2] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2269714/

[3] http://scienceline.org/2007/04/ask-westly-crystallizedhoney/

[4] http://www.benefits-of-honey.com/honey-properties.html

[5] http://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/the-science-behind-honeys-eternal-shelf-life-1218690/

[6] http://www.eurasianet.org/node/65204

[7] http://www.snopes.com/horrors/cannibal/honey.asp

[8] http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/06/09/healthy-sugar-honey_n_5445024.html

Why do we feel pain in our inner ear when our train travels through a tunnel

Why do we feel pain in our ears while our train travels through a tunnel? 

If you happen to be traveling in a train (running faster than 40-50 km/hr) which passes through a long tunnel, then you must have experienced pain inside your ear drums. It is harmless but it could be irritating at times. So why do we feel such a thing?

This happens because of pressure difference between the air behind your ear drums to air around you. When fast moving objects passes through a narrow long duct, they create low pressure around them, so when you are traveling in a train, pressure decreases in a much faster rate than the pressure inside your body could adjust, hence causing ear drum membrane to swell out- the reason for the pain.

This pain/sensation is similar to what some people might experience while plane takes off and lands. but the reason for creation of that pressure difference is different, you can read about it here.

Coming back to the topic, shown below is the graphic of roughly what happens when train travels through a tunnel. Not all the air is pushed out side like a plug as soon as train enters, instead air flows around the train in the space between tunnel wall and train, with high velocity (as area decreases velocity increases for given flow rate),  this high velocity creates low pressure zone ( Bernoulli equation), and hence the low pressure created causes our ear drum to 'swell' out.

Generally our body adjusts through this pressure changes easily without us even noticing, but when pressure changes are sudden our body fails to keep up with the changes. This causes the pressure inside our body to be high or low depending upon changes that occur in the surrounding. In present case, pressure is higher than the surrounding, hence air inside out our body wants to come out. the reason we fell that pain or sensation in our ears is simply because our ear drum are really sensitive and there exists a pocket or cavity ( middle ear) where air is trapped. So the pain that we feel is basically our ear drum trying to pop up. 

http://hearinghealthmatters.org

Having said that what could be done to avoid that? Well, one could try anyone of these possible solutions to 'Equalize' the pressure:

• Yawning
• With a mouthful of air, close your mouth and pinch nose your nose shut; gently force air out until ears your ears pop. (Do this VERY gently)
• Chewing gums 

Perhaps the next time you pass through a tunnel at-least you would know what is happening and how could you make it a little more comfortable. (It is comforting to know a little more about the reason for an uncomfortable situation :P) 

Should we really use Styrofoam cups?

Should we really use Styrofoam cups?

If you are living in India then there are high chances that you would have had tea, coffee or any other hot beverage in Styrofoam cups. But the question is, is it really safe to serve hot edible things in them?

The answer is not a simple yes or no. Since there are many factors to be considered, here I have written some information which may help you know a little more about it.

(Image credits: Tyler Lacoma)

Styrofoam is the trademark name of EPS (expanded polystyrene) developed by DOW Chemical Company and if we are using that exact material it is reasonably safe to have beverages up to 85 °C in it.

One can easily identify this material by identifying this symbol on it-

 

The problem is, that the cups we get in India are mostly manufactured by small scale industries which often lack proper quality control and enforcement of the most food packaging  laws is questionable at this scale. If you purchase cups or plates made of Styrofoam, you would probably not find any specifications like the name of the material or the temperature up to which it can be used.

These very cups are used to serve us tea, coffee and sometimes even soups, which can easily have temperatures upto 75- 85°C, and for polystyrene( Styrofoam) having low molecular weight, this temperature could be sufficient to cause glass to plastic transformation i.e. the material becomes soft. You must have often experienced this when holding the cup; it becomes soft, indicating that cup is not made of proper molecular weight polystyrene. Lower molecular weight has lower glass transition temperature.

And yes, Polystyrene is as such quite inert, but its monomer (styrene) has been classified and proven to be a carcinogen by OSHA (occupational safety and health administration). Its repeated and prolonged use can cause organ damaged.  Apart from that, many additives are added to that polymer before it gets into its final mold. So, the possibility of it leaching out into your drink remains.

 To understand this, one has to know that at glass transition temperature mobility of polymeric chain increases, thus enabling unreacted monomers (in this case styrene) and additives to move out of the polymeric structure. To support this statement, it has been proven by tests done in labs that when hot water is held in polystyrene cups styrene is found to leach out into the water.

Moreover, they are non bio-degradable and cause pollution. So not a great thing to use from the environmental view point either. But they are economical and good heat insulators –and no one likes a lukewarm tea! Hence, they are widely used.

So what could be used instead? If you are going to use plastic cups then prefer BPA free PETE (can be identified by symbol on the right or #1) or BPA free HDPE ( #2), or avoid plastic cups all together and go for reusable ones like that made of glass or ceramics. If not them then you always have those earthen pots or “khullads”.

khullad or earthen cups

In my opinion Styrofoam's (EPS) use should be avoided as much as possible, it is good for our own health and for the environment as well. You have probably been drinking your coffee and tea in them since long and it certainly didn’t kill you! Plus they are really cheap and good insulators, so reluctance in avoiding their use is understandable. Honestly though, using them a few times doesn’t necessarily harm you, but remember precaution is always better than cure. 

What are MSDS and why you need to know about them

I have recently developed an interest in reading about the ingredients present in various products. This made me realize that the ingredients present in similar products are almost the same.

By knowing more about these chemical compounds, you can pin-point if your skin is reacting or getting better by the use of a certain product.

Let us talk about a chemical compound- Propylene Glycol.
Pick up your face washes, oil-free moisturizers, mouthwashes and toothpastes and go through their ingredients. You will most definitely find propylene glycol on this list.

The primary function of propylene glycol is to act as a humectant that is, it absorbs moisture.
While propylene glycol is good when it comes to absorbing moisture, when applied on the skin, it will draw out moisture from the inner layers of your skin thereby, leaving it dehydrated and prone to wrinkling.
Repeated or prolonged use of propylene glycol can affect the central nervous system and lead to organ damage.  It may cause adverse reproductive effects and birth defects (teratogenic) based on animal test data.

Just like Propylene Glycol, several chemical compounds which are commonly used in cosmetic products can be very harmful to the body if used for a prolonged period of time.
This is where Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDS) come into the picture.

MSDS contain information about chemical compounds, their effects on human health on short term and long term exposure, first-aid measures to be taken in case the compound is inhaled, ingested or if it comes in contact with your skin.

Although, MSDs are based on contact with the chemical compound having a composition of 100% by weight, repeated and long term use of a chemical compound having a lower concentration can lead to the same effects in our body.

According to the World Health Organization, the acceptable intake of propylene glycol by ingestion is 25 mg per kg of body weight. That is, a person weighing 50 kgs can ingest 1.25 grams of propylene glycol. Applying it topically would have a lower absorption of it into your bloodstream.

The bottom line is that you should be more aware about what you put in and on your body. Use of products containing propylene glycol is safe only if you use it within the exposure limits.

You can view the MSDS of several chemical compounds here: www.sciencelab.com/msdsList.php

Sources:

[1] Sciencelab.com
[2] http://www.roberti.net/important-practices-for-beautiful-skin-understanding-wrinkles/
[3] http://thebeautybrains.com/2014/10/whats-so-terrible-about-propylene-glycol/
[4] http://www.annmariegianni.com/ingredient-watch-list-propylene-glycol%E2%80%94it-penetrates-skin-only-to-dry-it-out/

PS: You can ask questions about the working of various things, analysis of the ingredients of a product, about skincare and we would be glad to help you. If your question is interesting enough, we could write a post about it!