Now I know what that powder found on bananas and pineapples is - Calcium Carbide, a (very cheap) ripening but nasty toxic chemical!

Bitter truth about fruit

To avoid serious health problems all over Asia, wash all fruit (bananas, Pineapples, apples, mangos) under running water. Avoid skin contact.

Also beware of Borox (sodium borate) in other fruits and vegetables.

Use of a small ozone machine which are readily available are good at removing toxins from fruit & vegetables. Place them in a bowl of water with the ozone running.

It is not carcinogenic. MSDS: http://www.scholarchemistry.com/msds/Cal_Carbide.pdf

No need for fancy ozone machines that create poisonous air. Just wash them.

How is Ozone Harmful?

The same chemical properties that allow high concentrations of ozone to react with organic material outside the body give it the ability to react with similar organic material that makes up the body, and potentially cause harmful health consequences. When inhaled, ozone can damage the lungs (see - "Ozone and Your Health" - www.epa.gov/airnow/brochure.html). Relatively low amounts can cause chest pain, coughing, shortness of breath, and, throat irritation. Ozone may also worsen chronic respiratory diseases such as asthma and compromise the ability of the body to fight respiratory infections. People vary widely in their susceptibility to ozone. Healthy people, as well as those with respiratory difficulty, can experience breathing problems when exposed to ozone. Exercise during exposure to ozone causes a greater amount of ozone to be inhaled, and increases the risk of harmful respiratory effects. Recovery from the harmful effects can occur following short-term exposure to low levels of ozone, but health effects may become more damaging and recovery less certain at higher levels or from longer exposures (US EPA, 1996a, 1996b).

It is not carcinogenic. MSDS: http://www.scholarch...Cal_Carbide.pdf

No need for fancy ozone machines that create poisonous air. Just wash them.

How is Ozone Harmful?

The same chemical properties that allow high concentrations of ozone to react with organic material outside the body give it the ability to react with similar organic material that makes up the body, and potentially cause harmful health consequences. When inhaled, ozone can damage the lungs (see - "Ozone and Your Health" - www.epa.gov/airnow/brochure.html). Relatively low amounts can cause chest pain, coughing, shortness of breath, and, throat irritation. Ozone may also worsen chronic respiratory diseases such as asthma and compromise the ability of the body to fight respiratory infections. People vary widely in their susceptibility to ozone. Healthy people, as well as those with respiratory difficulty, can experience breathing problems when exposed to ozone. Exercise during exposure to ozone causes a greater amount of ozone to be inhaled, and increases the risk of harmful respiratory effects. Recovery from the harmful effects can occur following short-term exposure to low levels of ozone, but health effects may become more damaging and recovery less certain at higher levels or from longer exposures (US EPA, 1996a, 1996b).

So why does most of the bottled water have a lable on it that says treated with ozone. BTW I was not advocating breathing it, merely to kill any toxins found on fruit & veges. O3 is not very stable & dissipates very quickly.

Yes, forget the Ozone cleaners - they can cause a lot of chronic ailments - best to just run water over the fruits and vegs for a few minutes.

Re calcium carbide possible connections with cancer, from Br J Ind Med. 1986 April

The overall mortality and the incidence of cancer have been studied among male employees at a plant producing calcium carbide. The cohort was defined as all men employed at the plant for at least 18 months in the period 1953 to 1970 and was classified according to 10 occupational categories. The 790 men have been observed from 1953 to 1983 and the incidence of cancer in the cohort has been compared with national incidence rates. A significant excess of colonic cancer (standardised incidence ratio, SIR = 2.09) and of prostatic cancer (SIR = 1.78) was found, and also a slight excess of lung cancer among furnace and maintenance workers (SIR = 1.56).

More on its toxicity here:

Calcium carbide poisoning via food in childhood

The ozone is not present in the bottled water, only during sanitization at the factory, but creating it in an enclosed space (house) is a bad thing.