Post by SpyderLady on Sept 10, 2006 19:55:36 GMT -6
Where do you put Your purse?
Very interesting!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Who would o' thought!
SALT LAKE CITY :
Its' something just about every woman carries with her. While we
may know what's inside our purses, do you have any idea what's on the
outside?
Shauna Lake put purses to the test - for bacteria - with
surprising results. You may think twice about where you put your purse in the
future. Women carry purses everywhere, from the office to public
restrooms to the floor of the car. Most women won't be caught
without their purses, but did you ever stop to think about where your
purse goes during the day?
"I drive a school bus, so my purse has been on the floor of the
bus a lot," says one woman. "On the floor of my car, in restrooms." "I
put my purse in grocery shopping carts, on the floor of bathroom stalls
while changing a diaper," says another woman. "And of course in my home
- which should be clean."
We decided to find out if purses harbor a lot of bacteria. We
learned how to test them at Nelson Laboratories in Salt Lake, then we set
out to test the average woman's purse. Most women told us they didn't
stop to think about what was on the bottom of their purse. Most said they
usually set their purses on top of kitchen tables and counters
where food is prepared. Most of the ladies we talked to told us they
wouldn't be surprised if their purses were at least a little bit dirty. It
turns out purses are so surprisingly dirty, even the microbiologist who
tested them was shocked.
Microbiologist Amy Karren of Nelson Labs says nearly all the
purses tested were not only high in bacteria, but high in harmful kinds
of bacteria. Pseudomonas can cause eye infections, staphylococcus
aurous can cause serious skin infections, and salmonella and e-coli found
on the purses could make people very sick. In one sampling, four of
five purses tested positive for salmonella, and that's not the worst of
it. "There was fecal contamination on the purses," says Amy. (You
know... poop?)
Leather or vinyl purses tended to be cleaner than cloth purses,
and lifestyle seemed to play a role. People with kids tended to have
dirtier purses than those without, with one exception. The purse of one
single woman who frequented nightclubs had one of the worst
contaminations of all. "Some type of feces, or even possibly vomit or something like
that," says Amy.
So the moral of this story - your purse won't kill you, but it
does have the potential to make you very sick if you keep it on places where
you eat. Use hooks to hang your purse at home and in restrooms, and
don't put it on your desk, on a restaurant table, or on your kitchen
countertop.
Experts say you should think of your purse the same way you would
a pair of shoes. "Would you consider putting a pair of shoes onto your
countertops? Well that's the same thing you're doing when you put
your purse on the countertops," says Amy. The microbiologists at Nelson
also said cleaning a purse will help. Wash cloth purses and use leather
cleaner to clean the bottom of leather purses.
Very interesting!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Who would o' thought!
SALT LAKE CITY :
Its' something just about every woman carries with her. While we
may know what's inside our purses, do you have any idea what's on the
outside?
Shauna Lake put purses to the test - for bacteria - with
surprising results. You may think twice about where you put your purse in the
future. Women carry purses everywhere, from the office to public
restrooms to the floor of the car. Most women won't be caught
without their purses, but did you ever stop to think about where your
purse goes during the day?
"I drive a school bus, so my purse has been on the floor of the
bus a lot," says one woman. "On the floor of my car, in restrooms." "I
put my purse in grocery shopping carts, on the floor of bathroom stalls
while changing a diaper," says another woman. "And of course in my home
- which should be clean."
We decided to find out if purses harbor a lot of bacteria. We
learned how to test them at Nelson Laboratories in Salt Lake, then we set
out to test the average woman's purse. Most women told us they didn't
stop to think about what was on the bottom of their purse. Most said they
usually set their purses on top of kitchen tables and counters
where food is prepared. Most of the ladies we talked to told us they
wouldn't be surprised if their purses were at least a little bit dirty. It
turns out purses are so surprisingly dirty, even the microbiologist who
tested them was shocked.
Microbiologist Amy Karren of Nelson Labs says nearly all the
purses tested were not only high in bacteria, but high in harmful kinds
of bacteria. Pseudomonas can cause eye infections, staphylococcus
aurous can cause serious skin infections, and salmonella and e-coli found
on the purses could make people very sick. In one sampling, four of
five purses tested positive for salmonella, and that's not the worst of
it. "There was fecal contamination on the purses," says Amy. (You
know... poop?)
Leather or vinyl purses tended to be cleaner than cloth purses,
and lifestyle seemed to play a role. People with kids tended to have
dirtier purses than those without, with one exception. The purse of one
single woman who frequented nightclubs had one of the worst
contaminations of all. "Some type of feces, or even possibly vomit or something like
that," says Amy.
So the moral of this story - your purse won't kill you, but it
does have the potential to make you very sick if you keep it on places where
you eat. Use hooks to hang your purse at home and in restrooms, and
don't put it on your desk, on a restaurant table, or on your kitchen
countertop.
Experts say you should think of your purse the same way you would
a pair of shoes. "Would you consider putting a pair of shoes onto your
countertops? Well that's the same thing you're doing when you put
your purse on the countertops," says Amy. The microbiologists at Nelson
also said cleaning a purse will help. Wash cloth purses and use leather
cleaner to clean the bottom of leather purses.
