Biohazard lurks in bathrooms: Shower curtains awash with potentially harmful bacteria

Nature News Service ^ | February 16, 2004 | PETER ALDHOUS

[af_vet_rr]

Warning : If you breathe, you'll eventually die :-)

I sometimes watch 'Mythbusters' on Discovery, and they went into the "if you leave your toothbrush in the bathroom, it'll get such and such microbes/etc. on it". Well, everywhere in the bathroom and outside of the bathroom had some kind of bacteria on it, regardless of where you place this or that item.

I've known people who try to keep their house completly disinfected, etc. (not Howard Hughes obsessive, but somewhat close) and I figure they are doing more harm than good over the long term. Their bodies won't be able to handle the kind of stuff most of us are exposed to. George Carlin had some special on TV where he joked about swimming in the sewers when he was a kid and that is why his immune system is so strong.

[LadyDoc]

Both contain species that are opportunistic pathogens, able to infect wounds or sicken people whose immune systems are suppressed.

So remember, kids, don't dry your open bleeding wounds with a plastic shower curtain.

And NEVER NEVER eat a shower curtain unless it is fully cooked...

[chiller]

...but I've been told a toothbrush that (air)dries is healthier than one that remains wet.

Jeez, life is hard in the 21st century.

[Calamari]

Chlorox is good for this stuff.

OTOH this is news?

[YaYa123]

Sorta like those nasty creepy crawlers that dwell in mattresses. I guess...we've become immume more or less, or hey! Maybe we haven't!

But back to toothbrushes left exposed in bathrooms. The old fashioned kind, exposed, hanging on the wall, or electric brushes and Sonicares without their protective caps. Forget airborne fecal matter from flushes. You got a cat that jumps up on bathroom countertops? What I saw my cat doing to my uncovered Sonicare, yuck!

[Gabz]

I've known people who try to keep their house completly disinfected, etc. (not Howard Hughes obsessive, but somewhat close) and I figure they are doing more harm than good over the long term.

I agree with you.............and it seems to me that the children of these people are sick more often than not.

While I realize cleanliness is next to godliness - there is a point where it does get out of hand.

[YaYa123]

they get ya comin and goin

[LadyDoc]

I'm not worried about shower curtains, it's tea towels that REALLY kill people:

http://users.wmin.ac.uk/~redwayk/research/kitchen.htm

http://www.hub-uk.com/tallytip01/tip0006.htm

(for you NASCAR dads, tea towels are called dish towels in the USA...but then we don't use them to change "nappies" like the brits do:
http://bmj.bmjjournals.com/cgi/content/full/321/7260/580?maxtoshow=&HITS=10&hits=10&RESULTFORMAT=1&andorexacttitle=and&andorexacttitleabs=and&fulltext=tea+towel&andorexactfulltext=and&searchid=1076942567947_8391&stored_search=&FIRSTINDEX=0&sortspec=relevance&resourcetype=1,2,3,4

and scroll down to the end.

[TheBigB]

What did Bush know & when did he know it??

SHOWER CURTAINS CONTAIN BACTERIA. WOMEN, MINORITIES HARDEST HIT.

[Deguello]

"Anitbacterial soaps are bad because..."

Ever read the labels to your household products that say "anti-bacterial"? They contain triclosan and other anti-biotics.

How much have we been told over the past 20 years about the over use of anti-biotics and the reason why?

[chiller]

As you and many others know, crip...these antiobiotic soaps and dishwashing liquids are breeding stronger bacteria. We'll soon have grown a killer that modern medicine won't be able to stop.

I gave up the anti-bac soaps.

[Triple Word Score]

I can't keep my toothbrush in the bathroom anymore since these studies first came out. I think it's truly a wonder any of us survive....

[WV Mountain Mama]

It makes the strains resistant to antibiotics and the bacteria gets stronger and harder to treat. :)

[isom35]

so I should stop using my shower curtain as a kithen table cover?

[Mygirlsmom]

I've known people who try to keep their house completly disinfected, etc. (not Howard Hughes obsessive, but somewhat close) and I figure they are doing more harm than good over the long term.

What these well-intentioned but misled folks don't realize is that everything is crawling with flora but that there are more "good" bacteria than "bad". What you do when you overuse disinfectants and antibacterials is to wipe out the good with the bad. Think of it like your lawn. As long as the grass has a chance to thrive it will keep the weeds to a minimum. Kill the grass, and what do you have?

By a clean freak's standards I live in a hovel, because I rarely if ever use anything but soap and water (no antibacs) to clean anything including my bathroom. However, my kids are robustly healthy, and in the rare instance one of us gets sick, it doesn't usually spread to the rest of the family.

[CrazyIvan]

Aren't we lucky we didn't have air conditioning and video everything then! I've gone from inner tubes to kayaks in 40+ years, but I refuse to grow up!

[danamco]

Chlorox is good for this stuff. ........

Yes it is!

But what is even worse, is the "steam" that you inhale from the warm, warm, water stream from your shower head which is full of toxin Corine that is added to your water from the city's water supply. We have water treatment filters on our shower head, and it makes all the difference in optimal our health when we shower!

[BoozeHag]

Cuts down on the trips to the colorist as well.

[Calamari]

We're on our own well water. No Chlorine just lots of dissolved limestone. Tastes good but it is pretty hard.

[SuziQ]

I stopped using plastic shower curtains long ago. Just buy polyester ones, and throw them in the washer from time to time. They keep the water in the tub just as well as the plastic ones do.