Taking Showers Can Be Harmful To Your Health

TheClockworkSoul writes "According to both the BBC and NewScientist, showering may be bad for your health. Apparently, dirty shower heads can be an ideal breeding ground for Mycobacterium avium, a bug responsible for a type of pulmonary disease more prevalent than tuberculosis in developed countries, cases of which have risen in parallel with the rise in showering. Tests revealed nearly a third of devices harbor significant levels of the critter."

Comments

Re:hmmm

[mea37]

From the (somewhat incomplete) information in TFA, I think you're right that running the water before stepping in helps. Not sure about whether the fact you're taking a shower at the time matters, as the concern is inhaled bacteria.

It also seems that metal shower heads are not as bad as plastic.

Oh, and the bacteria in question are opportunistic - healthy people rarely get sick from them. So maybe it makes sense to give small children more baths than showers (which is what my family always did when I was growing up anyway); to consider taking baths when sick; and to consider what this implies for care of the elderly.

Other than that, this just seems a bit over-hyped. (Not seeing what the comparison to TB adds to the story beyond sensationalism, for example.)

Re:does CLR kill it?

[icebike]

And when you DO unscrew the shower head you will find......

NOTHING!

Because this story is largely BULL. You can stick a swab just about anywhere and find SOMETHING to sensationalize.

But having done more than my share of plumbing I can tell you shower heads are as clean on the inside the day you replace them as they were the day you installed them.

You might find calcium deposits. But then thats also in your tap where you get water to drink or cook.

Could you possibly find some bacteria? Probably, especially if you live where water is not chlorinated.

But is there enough to make you sick?

Well lets think about that for a second: If this bacteria could be washed out of the shower head onto you, then simply running the shower for a minute before you step in would solve the problem.
And, don't we all do this anyway?

Tempest. Teapot.