What’s Lurking in Your Shower?
Some rather frightening news has come to light about older shower heads and it isn’t pretty.
Apparently bacteria grows inside the head and the space inside is a great place for it to develop and grow, getting worse. When researchers tested the germ levels of the gunk that sits inside the head and the water both before and after it went through it they found that the levels of Mycobacterium avium was at least 100 fold higher than any other bacteria in the water. While there isn’t much known about the microorganism it does pose a threat to patients with illnesses that affect the immune system such as AIDS and lung diseases like emphysema.
One of the larger concerns is that many of these microorganisms (along with pathogens and microbes) are small enough to be breathed in, an issue that becomes twice as worrisome when you consider that the shower makes them aerosolized making it even easier for them to get into the body as we shower.
Researchers suggest that if you’re concerned about these contaminants you should take down your showerhead and look for higher levels of grit and grime. If you find that there’s a lot then it’s a wise idea to buy and install a new head. While healthy people aren’t likely to developed problems, those with lung and immune diseases should skip showers all together taking baths instead. The study was conducted in an effort to see what household factors could be affecting the health of those that lived there.
Tags: ads, aids, bacteria, contaminants, diseases, gunk, household, illness, immune system, iv, lung, lung disease, mycobacterium avium, shower, study, tea, ten, test, testcountry, testing, water
