Americans Fail Home Hygiene Test—How you can do Better
A webmd.com-conducted study found that compared to other nations, the U.S was by far the dirtiest. This wasn’t too surprising, but the study continues into the details of just how dirty we are. Analysis by a hygiene council formed at the New York University School of medicine showed the following:
o Clean your faucets, they are disgusting. Of the faucets swabbed and tested, 60% of Americans failed what the council considered minimal hygiene standards.
o Clean your kitchen, it is dirtier than your bathroom. Would you use your bathroom floor to chop onions and prepare a meal? You might as well.
o For kitchen sponges, 70% failed the test. Would you use your toilet brush to clean your dishes? Perhaps.
If those points of analysis weren’t convincing enough, the study claims that of the cloths people use to clean their homes, 21% and 31% were contaminated with Staphylococcus aureus and E. coli, respectively. These are some serious bugs, and the thought of having staph on your cleaning cloth as you run it under the sink and continue to another room should make you think again.
The most profound part of the analysis was the statement that when toilets are flushed, they fling out germs and fecal matter invisibly into the air, which can land on our hair brushes (ew), tooth brushes (major ew), and other objects that we scatter around the bathroom. The advice of the researchers was to keep “grooming devices” in drawers, so that you can easily clean the sink, faucet, and counter top, as frequently as possible.
Again, it doesn’t stop there. That fecal matter that was being sprayed across your bathroom is also left on too many people’s hands, touching doorknobs, keyboards, iphones, and, well, other people’s hands. The cycle continues. The lesson? Wash your hands, and do it right! The researchers say to sing “Happy Birthday twice” while you wash, and make sure you form suds. When in doubt, wash your hands. If you aren’t convinced, just picture fecal matter and Staph on your faucet. Buy some of those little alcohol-based sanitizing gels and use them after you touch public doorknobs, railings, and sinks.
In my opinion, there is a level of overkill. I would say to just use your common sense. If you use the Subway, don’t splash your hands with antibacterial gel after you get on, after you touch the railing, etc. Just use it after your whole trip is complete. Get on, get off, wash your hands. If you are working in a public building, wash your hands thoroughly in the bathroom before you sit down to work, before you eat, and when you get home. I remind you that exposure to germs is natural, so certainly clean your home thoroughly, but you don’t have to carry Lysol everywhere you go.
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