Should You Microwave A Book?!

About this video

(Summarized from the Arabic caption track.) Dale reacts to pandemic-era reports of people microwaving library books to kill the coronavirus, noting CNN ran a public-service report telling people to stop. He explains the Kent County Library in Grand Rapids, Michigan received returned books burned from the inside because the metal RFID tracking tag caught fire in the microwave, even though libraries already quarantine returned books for 72 hours as the CDC recommends. He cites CDC epidemiologist David Berendes saying there is no real need to sterilize borrowed materials because any virus present is at very low concentrations and dies quickly. Dale then calls retired virologist and horror novelist Thomas A. Bradley, who says there is no reason to microwave a book, Lysol would make the ink run, and at most a worried reader could wipe only the outer cover with a cloth dampened with a 10% bleach solution, though even that is unnecessary. Bradley explains these are enveloped viruses that dry out easily, so the odds of infection from a borrowed book are very low, and the 72-hour quarantine is more than sufficient because such safety windows are set with a margin, like best-by dates printed months before food actually expires. Dale closes by teasing a follow-up video about the Internet Archive and library book scanning.

Key takeaways

• Microwaving library books sets fire to the metal RFID tag inside and destroys the book
• Libraries already quarantine returned books for 72 hours following CDC guidance
• A retired virologist says there is no reason to microwave or spray books with disinfectant
• Enveloped viruses dry out and die quickly on paper, making book transmission very unlikely
• At most, wipe only the outer cover with a 10% bleach solution on a cloth

Episode details: published July 20, 2020 · 7:36 long. Summary written by Self Growth Videos from the episode itself. Business results and any income figures mentioned are Dale L. Roberts’s own claims, shared for education — they are not typical or guaranteed.

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