According to US scientists having a shower may be bad for your health, because dirty shower heads can deliver a face full of harmful bacteria.
Tests revealed nearly a third of devices harbour significant levels of a bug that causes lung disease.
Levels of Mycobacterium avium were 100 times higher than those found in typical household water supplies.
M. avium forms a biofilm that clings to the inside of the shower head, reports the National Academy of Science.
In the Proceedings journal, the study authors say their findings might explain why there have been more cases of these lung infections in recent years, linked with people tending to take more showers and fewer baths.
Water spurting from shower heads can distribute bacteria-filled droplets that suspend themselves in the air and can easily be inhaled into the deepest parts of the lungs, say the scientists from the University of Colorado at Boulder.
While it is rarely a problem for most healthy people, those with weakened immune systems, like the elderly, pregnant women or those who are fighting off other diseases, can be susceptible to infection.
They may develop lung infection with M. avium and experience symptoms including tiredness, a persistent, dry cough, shortness of breath and weakness, and generally feel unwell.
When the researchers swabbed and tested 50 shower heads from nine cities in seven different states in the US, including New York City and Denver, they found 30% of the devices posed a potential risk.
Since plastic shower heads appear to "load up" with more bacteria-rich biofilms, metal shower heads may be a good alternative, said Professor Pace.
But don’t stop having a shower: - Hot tubs and spa pools carry a similar infection risk, according to the Health Protection Agency.
A HPA spokesperson said: "This is an interesting paper which provides further information about the occurrence of opportunist organisms - germs which do not usually cause infections in humans - in the environment.
"These bacteria, which belong to the same family as TB, can be found in the environment and occasionally in water supplies but rarely cause disease in healthy people.
"Further work will need to look at whether finding these organisms are associated with any increased risk of infection."
It may be an American thing but I never get into the shower then turn the water on, I always run the shower until it gets to a decent temperature before stepping in.
So it seems that saving water could cost you your health.
Angus
Angus Dei on all and sundry
AnglishLit
Angus Dei politico
2 comments:
I, like you let it run prior to embarking on a shower especially in an hotel where they almost never clean (unclog) the heads. Usually it takes so long to achieve a temperature somewhere less than scalding but higher than iced water, that a distinct danger emerges of the sight of my own blood splashing onto the tray from my newly opened vein.
I have been known to re-engineer hotel bathrooms with my trusty 'leatherman' tool (always at my side) in an eandevour to obtain a good shower; one of the few American luxuries I do enjoy. Sadly my crumbling Edwardian Mansion does not afford me anything other than a bath at least not until I can sell it to some unsuspecting developer or I win the lottery. So I am no longer exposed to such danger very often. But, I always run off some water even from a tap, as old lead pipes still exist in the pipes close to buildings built prior to the 1960's. I know it is wastefull but lead poisoning is nasty.
What I always find strange about most American reports is the conclusions never match the findings within the body of the text. They tell you something arising from a wealth (often) of detailed information and the conclude pretty much that it is no consequence or needs further detailed study such as a double blind placebo trial, before they can recommend any change to be instituted.
Some comfort has been drawn by me with the news from the FDA that Pfizer has been fined $1.4 billion for just such tactics together with dubious inducements to doctors and hospitals. Big Pharma is very good at trials that say one thing in the report but bugger all in the summary, about the dangers of use of thier products. The same obviously applies to shower manufacturers.
They do like to cover their backs don't they.
Probably afraid of being sued by the shower manufacturers.
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