Month: May 2006

Public restrooms — what would we ever do without them? But talk about all the germs!

Turns out much greater risks abound right in plain sight. So says this article:

Keyboards and telephones — especially when they are shared — are among the most germ-laden places in a home or office . . . .

Well, great. I guess it’s time to buy some sort of de-germ-ificator spray. (I wonder what Lysol does to keyboard innards.)

Worried about colds, flu and other germs? Go ahead and touch those doorknobs and elevator buttons, but watch out for the telephone, fresh laundry and sinks . . . .

What?! Fresh laundry, too?

And few people know just how dirty laundry is — clean laundry.

“Most people don’t realize that they actually should wash their hands after they make dinner and also after they do the laundry,” Gerba said.

Americans have moved to short-cycle, cold-water washes to save energy and wear and tear on clothing, but this leaves viruses and bacteria largely intact.

“Water at 140 degrees F (60 degrees C) will sanitize laundry,” Gerba said. But only 5 percent of Americans use hot water for laundry.

And viruses such as hepatitis A, rotavirus and bacteria such as Salmonella — all of which cause stomach upsets and diarrhea — can easily survive the average 28-minute drying cycle.

These are all carried fecally. “There is about a 10th of a gram of feces in the average pair of underwear,” Gerba says. “You don’t want to be doing your handkerchiefs with your underwear.”

Sorry. I know that’s sick. But that’s news you can use if ever there was.

But let’s go back to keyboards, shall we?

“Keyboards are a lunch counter for germs,” Gerba said. “We turn them over in a lot of studies and we are amazed at what comes out of a keyboard.”

In fact, the average desk harbors 400 times more bacteria than the average toilet seat . . . .

Wow! I wonder if this fellow is right.

Regarding one immediate aftermath to the attacks on 9/11, I don’t recall ever thinking of this:

One of the consequences of closing American airspace was the denial of landing rights to all inbound international flights. Sliney’s decision made it necessary for those flights to return home, or if that could not be safely done, then to find somewhere else to land besides the US. Sliney had no idea if terrorists had more attacks coming from foreign airliners, and his decision was undoubtedly correct, despite the potential risk for the inbound flights.

Guess where a number of those flights went? Canada granted permission for these inbound flights to land despite watching the terrorist attack on the United States. It’s not a widely-discussed part of the 9/11 story, but Canada took the risk of bringing those flights into their country without knowing whether the terrorists might strike at their nation as well. No one knew what other operations the terrorists had planned for that day; some could have decided to strike airports when planes taxied to their gates.

The Canadian action took courage and selflessness and it probably saved lives. It’s just another reason to be grateful for our northern neighbors despite our occasional political differences.