You have probably seen the pictures of crowds in Japan where there are some of the people are wearing respirator masks. The reason is not what most of us would guess. Americans tend to wear the masks to protect themselves from getting sick from other people if they have immune issues.
In the Japanese culture. if you have a contagious illness you have a responsibility to wear the mask to protect the well people. Americans are usually not as careful to “keep illness to themselves.”
That having been said, here are the public areas you may not have thought about that could be a source of you getting sick with suggestions to avoid the risk.
Doors Handles on Swinging Doors The button to turn on the hand dryer or the lever to start the paper towel coming out.
The best solution for you is to use an elbow or shoulder to open or start these things when you can.
Keypads. ATMs, Security Access Pads, elevator buttons, and other such places where hundreds of people touch, but are never cleaned can give you a contagious disease. A pencil of stylus are the best solutions to keeping your fingers from delivering the contamination to your body. If you do touch these things, do not touch you face until you have used a hand sanitizer.
Menus Restaurant menus have 100 times more bacteria than a toilet seat, says Charles Gerba, PhD, a microbiologist with the University of Arizona, better known as Dr. Germ. They’re touched by tons, but only wiped down once a day, if that, and usually with a used rag. Instead of washing your hands before you sit down, scrub up after you order. And never lay your silverware on top of the menu.
Drink Garnish Lemons limes, and other cut-up fruit used on the rims of glasses are not usually cleaned before cutting or handled with freshly washed hands. Many germs including E. coli have been found on these when tested. Order your drinks without the garnish to avoid this exposure. The little decoration is not worth the potentially severe stomach and intestinal issues.
Public Water Fountains. Did you ever notice the slime that is usually around the hole the water spouts from? If that doesn’t paint the picture, think how many people have turned that handle. Carry your own water bottle and avoid using these fountains.
Dirty Money The flu virus can live on a dollar bill for 17 days! But no one uses gloves or tissues to handle money. The answer is to wash your hands after you handle money. There is a very good reason that food workers put on plastic gloves to handle food after they touch money. We need to be just as vigilant and was our hands after handling money, especially when we are eating food we will touch such as a sandwich.
Shopping Carts Shopping cart handles can be downright gross. Turns out you’re picking up more than just a loaf of bread. That handle can be swarming with up to 11 million microorganisms, including ones from raw meat. And just think about all the dirty diapers on that seat — the same one you’re putting your produce on. A lot of grocery stores have antibacterial wipes handy, so use them.
Hotel and Cruise Ships Rooms You do not know who was the past person in your room or if they had a contagious illness. Door handles, remotes, the sides of the racks you open to pit your suitcase on, the desk, the light switch, the hair dryer…….and on and on. We purchase large wipes before a trip and take 10 minutes to wipe down the touch points in a hotel room.
Swimming Pools and Hot Tubs A pubic pool can have pounds of poop floating around according to Michele Hlavsa, RN, chief of the CDC’s Healthy Swimming Program. Little kids can carry as much as 10 grams of leftover feces on their rear ends, she says. They don’t make a habit of washing off before jumping in, so all that poop just rinses off into the pool. It adds up, and chlorine doesn’t kill everything. The CDC found that more than half of pools test positive for E. coli, which can cause bloody diarrhea. Your best line of defense? Try not to swallow any water.
If that is not enough, consider the hot tub. They can have additional disease organisms such as Legionella. The action of the jets puts those little contagions into the air where you can inhale them and acquire them. There are also other viruses and bacteria that swim in the water and may not be killed because of a low level of chlorine or other disinfectant.
The bottom line is to be aware of the potential for disease exposure in public. Changing a few habits may keep you healthy. This is particularly important in times of high exposure risk such as flu season or on a cruise where Norovirus has broken out
Even if you have not personally experienced Sick Building Syndrome (SBS) your probably know at least one person suffering with an illness that appears to the result of indoor environmental exposures. Some people use the term “MCS” standing for Multiple Chemical Sensitivity instead of SBS. No matter what you call it, the effects of environmental exposures can range from inconvenient to devastating for victims and their loved ones.
Solving the riddle of what the cause or the remedy for Sick Building Syndrome can become a lifetime struggle. If you ask what is the relationship between our bodies and the environment, the answer is the same as many relationships in life: Its complicated! Too often we do not get to the bottom of “complicated”.
It is Tough to Figure Out What Makes Us Ill
The first barrier to solving the healthy environment problem is that most environmental reactions happen in time delay. Our brain wiring is much better looking at things as cause-effect when they are occurring together. If we touch a burner on the stove, we feel pain. If we hit our thumb with hammer, we immediately feel the consequences of that action. We learn in real time that for those actions there is a predictable, consistent reaction. We also figure out to not do those things again.
Environmental exposures usually take time. We walk into a contamination, and may not feel ill for the first hours, days or weeks. Often we do not become ill from an exposure for years until our immunity is affected by another illness or aging.
Our bodies work hard to keep us from having health problems from short term or low level exposures to toxins. As an example, most municipal water authorities have traces of arsenic in the water we drink. Our bodies can usually process the small amount of arsenic and we get on with life with little disruption. Our liver and kidneys can push small amounts of the arsenic out of our bodies and lives. If we open a jar of arsenic and consume a large amount of arsenic at one time, we can become very ill if not dead.
“Time loading” is how environmental illness often occurs. What that means is that if we have a little arsenic each day, and we start accumulating more in our bodies so that the liver and can clean up that chemical mess, we will become ill. By the way, this explains why a person who spends more time in a sick building can become sick and others who spend less time there are not affected
February 25, 2017 - By Clara W. Scott
Technically speaking, your washer should be one of the cleanest places in your home, but frighteningly enough, this appliance can also act as a hospitable environment for bacteria, germs, and unpleasant odors. Here are some ways to help you ensure that your clothes are truly as clean as can be.
Let’s start off with a worst case situation. I’ll just come right out and say the dread word . . .
Mold!
Yes, it is possible for mold to start growing in your washer, and the scariest part is that it is not always visible or obvious. In fact, Lieff Cabraser, a New Jersey based attorney, just helped push through a federal class action lawsuit against Whirlpool, Kenwood, and Maytag in regards to their front loading washers.
It seems that front loading washers are more susceptible to mold damage, so if you own one, it’s important that you pay close attention to the tell-tale signs of mold infestation, like musty smells and small black stains on your clothes or the washer walls. If you’re at all suspicious of your washer’s cleaning capabilities, call a professional to take a look at it right away.
Wash that underwear BY ITSELF
We’re going to make a sudden downward shift to a topic that most of us would blush when talking about: FECAL MATTER. It’s gross, but no matter how clean of a person you are, that bacteria will always end up on your unmentionables
In fact, Charles Gerba, who is a professor of microbiology at the University of Arizona, says, “There’s about a tenth a gram of poop in the average pair of underwear.” Yeah, I can’t quite make an accurate visualization of a “tenth of a gram of poop,” either, but no matter how small it may be, it doesn’t sound good!
These 100 million E. Coli can transfer to other clothing, so it is best to wash your undies separately from your jeans and shirts.
Opt for a Hang-Dry
Did you know that a cold or even warm wash cycle doesn’t clean some of the worst germs? In actuality, a washer needs to get to at least 140 to 150 degrees Fahrenheit for all of that nasty bacteria that clings onto clothes to be eradicated. That’s why, if you prefer to wash on cold, it’s best to always follow up in a warm environment like a dryer.
If you have clothes that need to be laundered delicately, then stick with the cold water hand wash cycle, then hang dry in the sun. Not only is this better for the environment, it’s also better for your health. Philip Tierno, a professor of microbiology says that the sun is the way to go. “The ultraviolet radiation kills germs. It’s just as effective as bleach.”