The invisible germ warfare being waged in your home: How even 'clean' places are breeding grounds for harmful bacteria
By Michael Hanlon Last updated at 12:16 AM on 30th June 2011 When it is visible, we are quick to wipe, wash and sluice it away. But the truth is, most dirt — more than 99 per cent of the stuff — is invisible, odourless and unnoticed. While we clean the obvious places, such as our baths and lavatories with rigour, few of us pay much attention to more apparently blameless items in our homes — our computers, mattresses, rugs and curtains. Yet countless studies show that places and objects we assume to be ‘clean’ are often breeding grounds for potentially harmful bacteria and parasites. Last week, for example, an investigation by scientists at London’s Barts Hospital found that a pillow — far from being a harmless support mat for a tired head at the end of the day — is full of dust mites, allergens and bacteria. In fact, evidence suggests that, after two years’ use, more than one third of the weight of the average pillow is comprised of dust mites, skin cells and bacteria — all of which can trigger asthma attacks and aggravate sinusitis. And, contrary to accepted belief, synthetic pillows are far worse than those filled with feathers. Even your washing machine isn’t safe. Another study this week by Slovenian scientists, published in the journal Fungal Biology, showed that dishwashers, washing machines and coffee-makers are full of potentially lethal germs, fungi or mould, including Exophiala dermatiditis and E. phaeomuriformis, which can cause lung disease. The moulds are heat and salt-tolerant and thrive in the warm creases of the rubber seals around dishwasher doors. And they prefer modern, environment-friendly dishwashers — which operate at lower temperatures and use less water — to older models. The fact is that the average home contains more bacteria than there are stars in the galaxy, and several kilos of human skin cells, dust mites, spores, eggs and the faeces of a dozen species of parasitical insect and crustaceans. Even a spotless house is, in microbial terms, as dirty as the average farmyard. The good news is that most of this ‘dirt’ is harmless. Indeed, there’s evidence to show it may, in fact, be a good thing. The argument is that if we make life too sterile, especially for children, our bodies won’t develop efficient immune systems at an early age. The result: the epidemic of asthma and allergies that blights modern living. Even if you could make your home totally clean, you would be unwise to do so. Dirt, in moderation, is part of life — and above we show where most of it is hidden within your house. Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2009670/The-invisible-germ-warfare-waged-home.html#ixzz1QjiJNHo5
