Washington, Sep 15 (Inditop.com) Showers are undoubtedly invigorating and good for hygiene, but they can also drench you with unwanted pathogens.
Researchers from the University of Colorado-Boulder (UC-B) used high-tech instruments and lab methods to analyse roughly 50 shower heads from nine cities in seven states, including New York City, Chicago and Denver.
Nearly 30 percent of the devices harboured significant levels of M. avium, a pathogen linked to pulmonary disease often infecting people with compromised immune systems, but also occasionally healthy ones, said study author Norman Pace, a UC-B professor.
Symptoms of pulmonary disease caused by M. avium can include tiredness, a persistent, dry cough, shortness of breath, weakness and “generally feeling bad”, said Pace.
Water spurting from shower heads can distribute pathogen-filled droplets that suspend themselves in the air and can easily be inhaled into the deepest parts of the lungs, he added.
Researchers found that some M. avium and related pathogens were clumped together in slimy “biofilms”, clinging to the insides of shower heads at more than 100 times the “background” levels of municipal water.
“If you are getting a face full of water when you first turn your shower on, that means you are probably getting a particularly high load of M. avium, which may not be too healthy,” Pace said.
Immune-compromised people like pregnant women, the elderly and those who are fighting off other diseases are more prone to experience such symptoms, said Pace.
Although scientists have tried cell culturing to test for shower head pathogens, the technique is unable to detect 99.9 percent of bacteria species present in any given environment, he said.
The study appeared in the Monday online edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
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