Bacteria sick shower head!

[terry]

Every week or so there is something 'in the news' that's unhealthy or causes a risk to one's well-being! These items sometimes even get 15 seconds of coverage on some TV news spot! Musta been a slow news night?

These 'studies' or findings are often presaged by such wording as 'A recent study of 56,000 suburban families finds that ....... yada, yada, .... "!

This week; it's bacteria contaminated shower heads!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Also with news "That some of these bacteria can 'resist' the administration of household bleach!". Oh what a calamity! Cos I occasionally bleach counter-tops and other areas and put wooden cutting boards etc. into the dishwasher at high temps, immediately after use!

But; not being paranoid or anything I unscrewed our shower head a few minutes ago to NOT find any goopy green or black gelatinous mess of creepy crawly bacteria (finding only one or two minute black stones at the inlet). Perched it on the spout of the water kettle and boiled steam (212 deg F) through it for two minutes (hoping the shower insides haven't melted!).

Incidentally we are currently under a municipal 'Boil water' advisory because a pipe broke at the local pumping and chlorination site. (Oh; btw there's another substance, chlorine, that apparently was/is the cause of asthma in many children ............... maybe that will be next week's concern?

So reckon we are safe; eh? Now I have to clean the kettle!

Cheers

[harry k]

My same reation! What next "study shows that air contains bacteria and breathing it can make you sick"?

Harry K

[salty]

Hot water in your dishwasher helps thin grease to aid in cleaning but does nothing to kill bacteria. Complete immersion in boiling water for a minimum of 20 minutes is needed to sanitize anything.

[norminn]

clipped

I don't worry about the shower head. Yet. I just recently read about the majority of beaches (Florida or all of US) having contamination by antibiotic resistant bacteria. That is no joke - it is pretty much endemic in hospitals and nursing homes and is, truly, something to worry about (along with docs and nurses who "don't have time" to wash their hands.

Article few years back about sea otters off coast of OR dying from feline diseases carried by domestic cats via sewage outflow.

My most immediate concerns are being hospitalized and picking up a nasty infection and for my grandchildren who participate in organized sports and who might acquire infection to these nasty bugs. I'm a retired nurse and have seen a few bad outcomes.

[EXT]

As usual these news articles contain so little fact that you cannot make any reasonable judgement on the surrounding conditions and solutions except for a panic reaction, which many people do.

For example, was this using well water that was contaminated or treated municipal drinking water with chlorine added, as this is supposed to keep the mains, pipes etc. clean. Was this a shower that was used several times every day or only once in a while, as this could affect any accumulation of bacteria. How did they supposedly clean the shower head with bleach, did they use the lazy way and wipe the outside, or did they dip the head quickly in a bowl of bleach or did they remove the head and let it soak for several minutes or up to an hour.

Without any real facts it is impossible to determine if the article is really true, or grossly exaggerated or a just local phenomenon.

[stan]

Exactly. In this case I was just curious. And that led to removing the shower head! BTW as mentioned by [e-mail] ............... the Dept of Health requirement here is that hot water for washing dishes be at least 160 deg F. (They used to come and measure it when we ran a school cafeteria!) Whereas water for children's hand washing must be a lot lower; to avoid scalding. So we have our domestic hot water tank set sufficiently high and it is that hot water than is fed to the dishwasher. The dishwasher even on a medium or economy setting goes through several wash 'cycles'. Also we run the tap for a moment before starting the dishwasher to ensure hot water has reached the kitchen, because we have some 25 feet of half inch copper between tank and kitchen taps. Thanks for the comments. Not trying to Michael Moore!

[Jim Elbrecht]

-snip-

There's a long way between "does nothing" and sanitize [assuming you meant 'sterilize' - as I sanitize my hands with soap & 100degree water]. There is an NSF standard that says 160 degrees for 10 minutes kills most bacteria.

Surgical tools might need a little more temp or time.

Jim

[salty]

212 degrees for 20 minutes. You can call whatever you do, whatever you prefer. It doesn't kill all the bacteria. It's usually the tougher bacteria you need to kill. Wiping your cutting board with a dry paper towel kills/removes some bacteria, too.

[Roger Shoaf]

On cutting boards you can forget about the dish washer. For one thing you can kill the wood and for another you are lucky you have wood cutting boards as the wood tends to kill off the pathogens due to the mechanical difficulties of the woods surface.

All you need to do is to use soap or detergent to break the fats or oils on the surface and rinse really well, then dry. Surprisingly the plastic cutting boards are the problem as the bugs thrive in the depths of the little slices making them virtually imposable to kill. Another nasty thing in the kitchen is that scrubbing sponge. To kill the nasties there a quick trip through the microwave works well as the steam is heated to autoclave temps and wipes out the buggers.

[Hustlin' Hank]

If I worried, or even believed any of the studies in regards to health, I would be in a bubble. It amazes me that people believe this all this shit because it was either on TV or the Internet. Medias are creating most of these scares of which very few can be proven.

I am also under the belief that most bacteria will only help the body build up its own defenses, which is what it will naturally do. Only in extreme cases is any antibiotic needed.

Hank

[Frank]

I think we should all shower in wet suits with scuba breathing apparatus until solution to this serious health hazard is determined.

[willshak]

on 9/16/2009 10:18 AM (ET) terry wrote the following:

Ignore all these scare tactics. What about the same water that runs through your faucets? Don't drink that? I think a lot of this doomsday warnings are the result of bottled water advertising.

[salty]

???

Are you saying that you can't tell the (significant) differences between a shower head and a faucet?

[Van Chocstraw]

There are bacteria like Legionaire's disease and a few others that can live in the shower head.This has been known for years. But hey have to be put there first from an infected person. Bleach DOES kill them so clean your shower head once in a while. Especially if you get recurring bacterial infections including urinary tract infections.

[Van Chocstraw]

You can't just lump all bacteria together. There are too many different kinds with different tolerances.

[Van Chocstraw]

Just think of all the dog shit that washes into the lakes, rivers and the ocean.

[salty]

That's why you need 212 degrees for a minimum of 20 minutes. You won't find any bacteria in a shower head that will survive that. Lower temps for shorter periods won't kill all of them.

[Hustlin' Hank]

It is sooooo hard for me to believe that in the 61 years of my life, I haven't died sooner from all this bacteria, viruses, and other unknown diseases. And to think I have never santitized/sterilized my shower head. I must be the luckiest guy in the world!

Hank

[Phisherman]

Not all bacteria is unsafe. In fact, eating yogurt regularly will help keep the good bacteria in your body and can eliminate bad breath. Not sure who dosn't turn on the shower before entering the shower, a quart of water should flush out most of the creapy crawlers. Also keep your water heater temperature no lower than 120 degrees F, else you might get bad bacteria growth in your water tank.

[usenet-659f31de7f953aeb]

Do you live right on the seacoast? At my inland altitude, water boils at a scant 204 degrees.