Things I Like - Sciences

Do you ever read or hear something unsettling, maybe it’s about the food you eat or the household products you use, that makes you take immediate action?

This was one of those times for me. It seems that taking a shower can be dangerous to your health:

Shower heads can deliver a face full of dangerous pathogens, according to a study which found them to be ideal breeding grounds for bacteria.

U.S. researchers analysed 50 shower heads from nine different cities and found 30% harboured significant levels of a pathogen linked to lung disease called Mycobacterium avium.

While the pathogen is common in municipal water systems, the levels found clinging to shower heads in slimy biofilms were more than 100 times higher than the background levels in the water.

The research is detailed in the U.S. journal the Proceedings of the National Academy
of Sciences.
~ Cosmos

The article goes on to say that metal showerheads carry far fewer pathogens than plastic and that stepping outside the room for a minute after turning the shower on can reduce the likelihood of inhaling the pathogens. According to one of the researchers, the average person shouldn’t be “worried at all”.

As I am well above average, I went immediately to my bathroom, removed the metal showerhead and soaked it in Lysol.