US Government Study Concludes: You're Probably Washing Your Hands Wrong (cnn.com)

97% of us don't wash our hands properly, a new government study concludes. An anonymous reader quotes CNN: The study from the U.S. Department of Agriculture shows most consumers failed to wash their hands and rub with soap for 20 seconds. That's the amount of time recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which says that washing for shorter periods means fewer germs are removed. "Numerous" study participants also didn't dry their hands with a clean towel.

The study involved 383 people in six test kitchen facilities in the metro Raleigh-Durham area of North Carolina and in rural Smithfield, North Carolina, the USDA said... About half the time, participants spread bacteria to spice containers while preparing burgers, and 11% of the time, they spread bacteria to refrigerator handles... The results from the USDA's study indicate our hand-washing habits may be getting worse. A study done in 2013 by Michigan State University found only 5% of people washed their hands correctly....

A separate study released this month found 49 of 100 towels tested showed growth of bacteria normally found in or on the human body.
CNN helpfully provides the proper method for handwashing. (Wet hands, lather them with soap -- between fingers and under fingernails -- and then scrub for at least 20 seconds.) They recommend singing the alphabet song once or "Happy Birthday" twice.

Just in America, foodborne illnesses sicken 48 million people each year, sending 128,000 to hospitals and resulting in 3,000 deaths.

Comments

Huh

[Anonymous Coward]

"Just in America, foodborne illnesses"
Also known as being a sugar fiend and a fat obese whaleburger fuck, rather than washing your hands wrong.
If it has a sweet taste, don't eat it anymore.
If it has a sweet taste, don't buy it anymore.

Daily reminder that obese lardwhale fat activist tumblrinas leave the biggest carbon footprint in history, ruining our planet and our future as a species
-their weight forces more fuel consumption in vehicles
-their size requires more water and boiler energy wasted
-their anuses release several volumes more greenhouse gases than the average person, and methane is the most destructive Greenhouse Effect gas
-the clothing industry needs to waste more resources to create clothes that fit them
-they produce several volumes more trash than the average person thereby polluting both land and air several times more
-their lard clogged up and destroyed crematoriums in multiple documented cases, creating disaster for the environment and society
-their shits clog up toilets and create additional strain on waste processing plants

allergies

[religionofpeas]

Studies have shown that excessive cleanliness increases chances of developing allergies.

Re: This is idiotic

[HiThere]

Washing your hands is good. The practice they are recommending is what is recommended for medical professionals on the job...and not usually followed by them.

There are good reasons to NOT wash your hands that thoroughly. Doing so is likely to damage the skin, leading to rough and cracked skin that literally cannot be washed thoroughly. Most medical practices now recognize this, and I believe that the use of thin plastic gloves rather than depending on excessive hand washing is now uniformly the practice. Before that they had switched to a hand foam sterilizer that was less abusive to the skin, but less isn't not.

For home use, use warm (not hot) water and a decent soap that doesn't irritate the skin, and clean under the fingernails when convenient, and definitely after a bowel movement. Don't be excessive, as that's as damaging as not being sufficient.