The active ingredient in bleach is not gaseous chlorine but hypochlorite ion, which is not volatile. Accordingly, bleach needs no confinement to work properly. It destroys the amino acid tyrosine, a constitute of all complex proteins, on immediate contact; the rest of the organic matter follows close behind. Perhaps it seems too easy to accept without performing traditional orchid rituals, but bleach is really that effective and can be used with confidence to clean pots and sterilize cutting edges. If viral RNA or DNA is not destroyed instantaneously by hypochlorite, [a possibility I doubt very much] remember, viral nucleic acid is not infective without ancillary protein structures which enable it to penetrate cells. I cannot supply a time table of the rapidity of destruction of every chemical entity, but it does not take much to destroy functional protoplasm. Twenty-four seconds should suffice, 24 hours gives one a safety margin. I would sooner be suspect of the oven than an exposure to good strong bleach. Bert Pressman
_______________________________________________ the OrchidGuide Digest (OGD) [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://lists.orchidguide.com/mailman/listinfo/orchids
