Why can’t things be sterilized by time?

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I have a pair of scissors that’s been in a mostly unopened cabinet for 5+ years. I wanted to cut open a bag of breastmilk with clean scissors but water and soap aren’t readily accessible at the moment.
The cabinet is in a former classroom so presumably the scissors were used by kids. My husband says using the scissors wouldn’t be sanitary. I believe him, but honestly I don’t understand why with time and no food the bacteria wouldn’t just die.

EDIT: I should have used the term sanitary not sterile. My baby is old enough that we don’t sanitize pump and bottle parts daily, just wash and dry after uses.

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Anonymous 0 Comments

For the same reason plant seeds can persist for thousands of years, then grow again when conditions are right. Sterilization destroys the potential for pathogens to reproduce by actually killing them.

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