Sometimes it seems that researchers just want to mess with the heads of OCD germaphobes. Case in point: People in White Coats at the University of Colorado at Boulder looked at the gunk inside of showerheads in 45 sites around the United States. They put the showerheads inside a big centrifuge (or whatever it is scientists do) and discovered that every time you shower, you are covering yourself in filth.
It turns out that the showerheads had seven billion microbes per square liter -- or about ten times the number found in tap water. It gets worse. The microbes that the Boulder gunkologists looked at included teeming masses of Mycobacterium avium, which besides having a scary sounding Latin name and being written in italics, can cause respiratory illness.
The good news is that the microbes are harmless if swallowed (like in tap water) unless they are turned into an aerosol mist and inhaled... like, you know, when you're taking a shower (eep! eep! eep!)
Experts recommend the following steps:
* Switch to metal showerheads (the problem only appears in plastic ones).
* Hold your breath for the entire duration of your shower.
* Take baths (the soap scum appears to counteract the evil bacteria).
* Fill your water tanks with Purell.
* Go French and stop bathing altogether.
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4 comments:
I can't win. I think baths are disgusting - who wants to sit in their own filth?
I'll continue taking my chances with the shower and squirt the shower head with bleach every once in a while.
Bleach doesn't help. The microorganisms just grow back. See: http://pacelab.colorado.edu/Showerhead%20FAQ.pdf
The only solutions are to switch to an all-metal (not metal coated) showerhead, use well water, or just pretend you didn't read any of this.
HAHAHAH, Well, I'm not going to "go French", but I'm definitely switching to a metal shower head. Thanks for the tips!
With three teenage daughters at my house it seems that the shower is constantly running. We're doomed....
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