Tuesday, September 15, 2009

Shower Head Bacteria

This is something I'm NOT worried about because I have a metal shower head and I never put my face into the first blast. I put it here because it lists some possible lung bacteria.

Showering may be bad for your health, say US scientists.
In fifty shower heads, 30% had levels of Mycobacterium avium 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 and those who get a face full of water when they turn on the shower, can inhale the bacteria suspended in water droplets into the deepest part of the lungs. Showers are also linked with a type of pneumonia called Legionnaires' disease and chest infections with a bacterium called Pseudomonas aeruginosa.
Some of these bacteria belong to the same family as TB. Metal shower heads are less likely to be infectious. Those with weakened immune systems, like the elderly, pregnant women or those who are fighting off other diseases, can be susceptible to infection.


--Report from the National Academy of Science and University of Colorado at Boulder, lead researcher, Norman Pace, forwarded from a friend who saw a BBC news article.



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