Slashdot Mirror
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.
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.
Our environments should be clean, not sterile. We have defenses, evolved over millions of years, in place specifically for handling these things. Unless you're immuno-compromised, going into surgery, or work in a restaurant, there's no reason to not allow your immune system to do its job.
Studies have shown that excessive cleanliness increases chances of developing allergies.
We've known this approximately forever. Expecting people to do this perfect hand washing doesn't seem to be working, from a systems perspective. Maybe invent a box that people can just stick their hands in for thirty seconds, emerging perfectly washed. Or keep complaining about them being lazy and just keep letting them get other people sick. Whatever you prefer.
Don't wipe your ass and eat the finger food without washing your hands, but if you always wash like you're preparing for doing surgery, you're going to do more damage than good.
How much time per year do I lose to foodborn illnesses?
How much time would I lose due to washing my hands for 20+ seconds at a time after every use of the toilet?
Off topic, but my grandmother said that when she installed a dishwasher, her family stopped catching diseases from each other. Presumably the dishwasher used hotter water than hand washing, and also washed more thoroughly. Now that's a cleanliness method which actually SAVES time and effort!
and the fellow from Harvard were in the lavatory and both used the urinal. The fellow from Yale zipped up and prepared to leave. The fellow from Harvard proceeded to wash his hands and said, "At Harvard they teach is to wash our hands after urinating." The fellow from Yale replied, "At Yale they teach us not to urinate on our hands."
How about a moderation of -1 pedantic.
Removing all germs is why more and more people get sick so often. They're so germophobic their bodies don't develop immunity to minor bugs, let alone the bigger ones. These are the same people who run to the doctor when they have a sniffle and demand an antibiotic which is why we are beginning to see antibiotic-resistant bacteria.
The best thing a child can do when growing up is eat two pounds of dirt.
NOTE: this does not mean I don't wash my hands after using the restroom or that people who handle food should not wash their hands. I'm only saying that building up an immunity would go a long way to helping mitigate outbreaks.
Comment removed based on user account deletion
if most people flushed the toilet or urinal and tried to wash their hands in the store. Truth is, many of them just come in, do their business and leave - no flush, no washing. Then there's those that do flush but don't wash.
I'm familiar with the discussion about over-washing. Many of those germs are actually good for you. But come on, what's worse than an unsanitary public restroom?
That wouldn't do it. I suspect the gp uses a "soap" that's got a lot of oil in it. A *lot*. I'm dubious about how clean such soaps get you. But if he's a compulsive hand washer that may be the best choice he has, and just by itself warm water helps a lot.
I think we've pushed this "anyone can grow up to be president" thing too far.