Tag Archives: bacteria

There’s bacteria in that vape

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Electronic cigarette products play host to bacterial toxins and fungi that have unknown effects on the growing number of people who use these items. (Courtesy Spectrum Health Beat)

By Alan Mozes, HealthDay


You might need to worry about inhaling more than just nicotine when you vape: New research warns that many electronic cigarettes appear to be contaminated with fungi and bacteria.


The finding stems from a close look at the contents of 75 popular vaping products.


About half of the e-cigarettes examined were of the single-use cartridge variety, while the other half were refillable products. Both contained liquid laced with nicotine, along with other chemicals. Once a user takes a puff, a battery-powered heating device vaporizes the liquid, turning it into inhalable vapor.


But nicotine was not all that was found in the vapor of many products.


Study author Dr. David Christiani said 23% of the electronic cigarette products they examined contained bacterial toxins, while 81% tested positive for a substance called glucan, which is found on the cellular structures of most fungi.


“The contamination took place in electronic cigarette liquid and in the cartridges,” Christiani said, although the cartridge e-cigarettes contained more than three times more glucan than the refillable liquid e-cigarettes.


Christiani, director of the environmental and occupational medicine and epidemiology program at Harvard’s T.H. Chan School of Public Health, characterized the findings as “surprising.” But when asked if the identified contaminants actually pose a danger to vapors, he suggested the jury is still out on that question.


Potentially, “they are toxic,” Christiani said.


That means that, over time, exposure to high amounts of such contaminants can prompt the onset of progressive lung illnesses such as emphysema, chronic bronchitis and asthma.


But as a practical matter, Christiani noted that the contaminant levels his team found in e-cigarettes was actually “considerably lower” than levels “that have been shown to cause lung disease” in workplace environments where manufacturing chemicals abound.


What’s more, such contaminants are also found in standard cigarettes, where levels “are (also) generally higher than what we measured here,” he added.


The bottom line: “At this time, we do not have scientific evidence that the levels we see in these electronic cigarette products raise health concerns,” Christiani concluded.


Still, he cautioned that “we do not know what the risk is with long-term usage, with increasing cumulative dose and with the interaction between these contaminants and other potentially toxic agents we and others have found in electronic cigarette products, such as flavorants or industrial solvents.”


Christiani’s team noted that the popularity of e-cigarettes has exploded in just a few years, particularly among young users. For example, the authors pointed out that while just 220,000 high school students vaped in 2011, last year that figure hit more than 3 million.


And though many experts take the position that vaping is probably a safer option than smoking standard cigarettes, as its use has grown, so has public health scrutiny.


As to what might cause contamination, the study team said it could happen at any point during the production process. But they also pointed a finger at the cotton fiber wicks found in e-cigarette cartridges, given that such fibers are known to host both bacteria and fungi.


Regardless of whether such contaminants ultimately pose a significant risk, “vaping is potentially harmful to your health, and (it’s best) not to do it,” Christiani said. “More study is needed to determine whether vaping can be made safer by removal of all contaminants and adulterants.”


The study was published online recently in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives.


Victoria Stevens is scientific director of epidemiology research with the American Cancer Society. She agreed that “a more complete understanding of what’s in e-cig products and what their users are exposed to would help define some of the potential risk of vaping.”


Stevens pointed out, for example, that the bacterial and fungal property that the study team found in e-cigarettes “are common contaminants and are found in things like household dust.”


So she suggested that until more research clarifies exactly how much exposure vapers face—in terms of both what is found in vaping devices and what users actually inhale—”it is unclear whether this contamination is a cause for concern.”


Reprinted with permission from Spectrum Health Beat.



Gross alert: Your dishwasher is not as sterile as you think

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Keep microbes contained by not opening the dishwasher before it has cooled down following a wash cycle. (Courtesy Spectrum Health Beat)

By Amy Norton, HealthDay

 

Your dishwasher may get those plates spotless, but it is also probably teeming with bacteria and fungus, a new study suggests.

 

Microbes—from bacteria to viruses to fungi—are everywhere, including within and on the human body. So it’s no surprise, the researchers said, that a kitchen appliance would be hosting them.

 

So do people need to worry about getting sick from their dishwashers? No, said Erica Hartmann, an assistant professor at Northwestern University who was not involved with the study.

 

“The risk is probably in the realm of a shark attack,” she said. That is, most people face little to no risk, but there are select groups who may be at higher risk—in this case, people with conditions that weaken their immune defenses.

 

Dishwashers are an interesting case when it comes to microbes because they are actually an “extreme” habitat, Hartmann explained.

 

“People don’t think of them that way. It’s just your dishwasher. But it really is an extreme environment,” said Hartmann, who studies the microbiology of the indoor environment.

 

Dishwashers create constantly fluctuating conditions—wet to dry, high heat to cooler temperatures, low to high acidity. They also harbor mixtures of detergents and dinner scraps. So, only certain microbes will thrive.

 

The new study looked at which bacteria and fungi are actually dwelling there, and what factors seem to influence that microbial makeup.

 

Specifically, the European researchers took samples from the rubber seals of 24 household dishwashers.

 

Overall, they found, the most common bacteria included Pseudomonas, Escherichia and Acinetobacter—all of which have strains that are “opportunistic pathogens.” That means they are normally harmless, but can cause infections in people with a compromised immune system.

 

The most common types of fungus were Candida, Cryptococcus and Rhodotorula—which also include opportunistic pathogens.

 

Nina Gunde-Cimerman, a professor of microbiology at the University of Ljubljana, in Slovenia, worked on the study.

 

She said dishwashers and other microbe-hosting appliances are “generally safe” for healthy people. It’s “sensitive groups,” she said, who may need to be more cautious.

 

Gunde-Cimerman said she and her colleagues suspect dishwashers might play a role in fungal infections called mycoses in certain immune-compromised patients. A fungus commonly found in those patients, she said, is known as Exophiala dermatitidis, or black yeast.

 

And while that fungus is “hardly known in nature,” she said, it’s easy to find in dishwashers.

 

However, Gunde-Cimerman stressed, that’s speculation. No one has yet proven a connection between dishwasher microbes and mycoses infections.

 

How do fungus and bacteria get into dishwashers? The “main entry point” for fungi is the tap water that supplies the appliance, Gunde-Cimerman said. But food, people and pets are other potential sources, she added.

 

As for the bacteria, the source isn’t clear, according to Gunde-Cimerman. “But we speculate that contaminated food is the main entry route,” she said.

 

It is possible for dishwasher microbes to break free from their home: They can get out via waste water, or through the hot air produced at the end of the dishwasher cycle, Gunde-Cimerman said.

 

So one way to keep the microbes contained is to avoid opening the dishwasher before it has cooled down, according to Gunde-Cimerman.

 

“Do not open the dishwasher when it is still hot and humid,” she said, “to prevent the release of aerosols in the kitchen.”

 

Wiping the rubber seal with a dry cloth at the end of a cycle can also limit microbe buildup, Gunde-Cimerman said.

 

Hartmann agreed that people who are concerned can wipe down the dishwasher seal.

 

But she also emphasized the positive aspects of the microbial communities living in all our homes: Scientists have made great discoveries by studying microorganisms.

 

Hartmann pointed to the example of a bacterial enzyme discovered in the hot springs of Yellowstone National Park. It was instrumental in developing a breakthrough technique called polymerase chain reaction, which is now used to study DNA in research and clinical labs everywhere.

 

“Your kitchen might not be Yellowstone,” Hartmann noted. But, she added, it may host some “pretty amazing” microbes.

 

So if you are ever presented with the opportunity to have researchers swab your kitchen, Hartmann said, consider it.

 

The study was published in the journal Applied and Environmental Microbiology.

 

Reprinted with permission from Spectrum HealthBeat.

Germ bath, anyone?

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Sink, check. Toothbrush, check. Shower head? Yes, add the shower head to your checklist of things to replace or clean in the bathroom. (Courtesy Spectrum Health Beat)

By Steven Reinberg, HealthDay

 

You no doubt think that stepping into your shower will wash away dirt and germs, but a new study shows your shower head might instead dump nasty bacteria on you that may cause lung infections.

 

Most people know to keep their bathrooms clean, especially the toilet and sink. But researchers discovered that places in the United States and Europe where germs called mycobacteria are found in abundance in shower heads are the same places where bacterial lung infections are most common. In America, that includes parts of Southern California, Florida and New York.

 

“We live in a world covered in bacteria, and the bacteria in our shower heads follow some interesting geographic trends, and can be altered by our water source and water chemistry,” said study lead author Matthew Gebert.

 

“We’re exposed to microbes constantly in our day-to-day lives, some beneficial, some innocuous and a few potentially harmful,” Gebert explained.

 

He’s a research associate at the University of Colorado’s Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences.

 

Bacteria thrive in shower heads and water distribution systems. Although most of these bacteria are harmless, some can cause lung infections, he said.

 

Still, just because mycobacteria live in your shower head doesn’t mean you’ll get sick or are more likely to get a respiratory infection, Gebert added.

 

In fact, researchers can’t say that a person with a respiratory infection got it through showering, but understanding the sources of mycobacterial exposure is important.

 

“We don’t want people rushing home and throwing away their shower heads or obsessively cleaning them every day, nor should anyone change their showering habits—swallowing the water is OK,” he said.

 

For the study, Gebert and his colleagues analyzed shower heads from homes around the United States and Europe, and found an abundance of bacteria. The kind of germs varied by location, and by the chemistry of the water and where it came from.

 

An interesting finding was that homes whose water was treated with chlorine disinfectants had high concentrations of certain germs, the researchers noted.

 

The study was published recently in the journal mBio.

 

“I don’t think there are necessarily any negative implications from the study,” Gebert said. “But because bacteria that can cause illness live in our shower heads, it’s important to understand how people can be exposed to them.”

 

Dr. Marc Siegel, a professor of medicine at NYU Langone Medical Center in New York City, noted that bacteria grow in wet places like shower heads.

 

“This is a reminder to clean your shower head, which nobody does,” he said, though “most of us are likely to tolerate mycobacteria and not get sick from it.”

 

Bacteria in shower heads won’t cause an outbreak of lung infections, but people who are run down or who have a compromised immune system or a chronic condition may be vulnerable, Siegel suggested.

 

Bacteria also live on your toothbrush and in your sink—any moist surface, he said.

 

Siegel recommends cleaning your shower head every week or two with a disinfectant that contains ammonia to be sure you kill all the germs nesting there.

 

“Add your shower head to the list of things in the bathroom that need cleaning,” he said.

 

Reprinted with permission from Spectrum HealthBeat.

Kitchen towels laden with bacteria

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Courtesy Spectrum Health Beat

By Steven Reinberg, HealthDay

 

Is your kitchen towel making you sick?

 

The answer could be yes if you use the towel for many purposes, have a large family and are not a vegetarian, according to a new study of germs lurking on towels.

 

Forty-nine percent of the kitchen towels collected for the study were laden with bacteria, and the bacterial count increased with the number of family members and kids, researchers from the Indian Ocean island/nation of Mauritius reported.

 

“Cross-contamination is happening in the kitchen, and those bacteria could reach our food and cause food poisoning,” said lead researcher Susheela Biranjia-Hurdoyal. She is a senior lecturer in the department of health at the University of Mauritius.

 

Specifically, the researchers found that towels used for a variety of tasks—such as wiping utensils, drying hands, holding hot utensils or cleaning surfaces—had more bacteria than towels used for one task. In addition, damp towels had more bacteria than dry ones, the investigators found.

 

Of the 49 samples that were infested with bacteria, 37 percent had Escherichia coli (E. coli), 37 percent had Enterococcus, and 14 percent were infected with Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus).

 

For the study, Biranjia-Hurdoyal and her colleagues sampled 100 kitchen towels that had been used for one month. They classified the types of bacteria on the towels and also how much bacteria was present.

 

Higher rates of S. aureus were found among low-income families and those with children, the findings showed. The risk for E. coli was higher in damp towels than dry ones, from towels used for several jobs rather than single-use ones, and from those used in non-vegetarian households.

 

Both E. coli and S. aureus were found at higher rates in families with non-vegetarian diets.

 

E. coli is a normal bacteria found in the intestine and is released in large numbers in human feces. S. aureus is a bacteria found in the respiratory tract.

 

The researchers’ advice? “Avoid humid and multi-usage towels,” Biranjia-Hurdoyal suggested.

 

Kevin Sauer is an associate professor of dietetics at Kansas State University College of Human Ecology in Manhattan, Kansas. He said, “The key advice is to remain attentive to food safety when preparing food in the home, which includes proper hand-washing, avoiding cross-contamination, and cooking and storing foods at the right temperatures.”

 

In a food-handling study he did in 2015, Sauer found that cloth towels were the most contaminated.

 

“However, even when provided with disposable single-use paper towels, participants were still observed using these in a way that led to additional contamination of contact surfaces,” he noted.

 

Sauer advised that people should avoid using towels in place of hand-washing, because they can easily become contaminated with harmful germs from raw meat and poultry juices.

 

“Furthermore, reusing contaminated towels to wipe hands or other surfaces can easily lead to cross-contamination, and therefore should not be reused throughout meal preparation, since they too can contribute to contamination of hands, surfaces or other food products,” Sauer said.

 

Findings from the study were scheduled for presentation at the American Society for Microbiology meeting, in Atlanta. The findings should be considered preliminary because they have not yet been published in a peer-reviewed medical journal.

 

According to Jessica Corwin, MPH, RDN, community nutrition educator for Spectrum Health Healthier Communities, and Kristi Veltkamp, an outpatient dietitian at Spectrum Health Blodgett Hospital, we should all follow these key tips to avoid cross-contamination:

  • Always wash your hands with soap and water before preparing or handling food.
  • Keep raw meat, poultry and seafood securely wrapped to prevent any juices from contaminating prepared dishes and raw foods.
  • Take time to rinse fresh fruits and vegetables under running water. Scrub any firm-skinned produce with a vegetable brush.
  • Avoid re-using towels, platters or utensils that were used with raw meats.

Corwin urges people to follow food safety precautions, even if they ignored them in the past and didn’t feel any ill effects.

 

Not everyone responds to infections the same way. Those most at risk of serious complications include small children, pregnant women, the elderly and those with compromised immune systems.

 

Learn more about services for Digestive Health & Disorders at Spectrum Health.

 

For more tips about food safety in the summer, go to the U.S. Health and Human Services website, foodsafety.gov.

 

Grand Rapids Public Museum gets microscopic in newest exhibit

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Race the clock to build a DNA strand in the Public Museum’s next exhibit “Zoo in You.”

By Joanne Bailey-Boorsma

joanne@wktv.org

 

For the summer, the Grand Rapids Public Museum is taking a look at some of the smallest organisms known to man – microbes.

 

In May, the Museum opened one of three summer exhibits, the “Zoo in You: Microbes.” The exhibit was put together by the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry, the same group behind last summer’s Mindbenders exhibit. So visitors can expect the “Zoo in You” to be just as interactive, said Grand Rapids Public Museum Marketing Director Christie Bender, adding there is lots to do for all ages 

 

“Kids from 6 to 15 will get a lot out of this exhibit and really understand the concepts,” Bender said. 

 

The “Zoo in You” has visitors explore these microbial companions in three thematic areas: Meet the Microbes, Our Complex Ecosystems, and Exploring Our Microbiome.

 

“There are trillions of microbes all over every person and this exhibit lets you get hands on and interactive to explore more about them,” Bender said. “This exhibit takes you all the way down to our microscopic level of our microbes that are actually all over our body.”

 

A marble maze shows how microbes colonize.

Activities include a race-the-clock game to complete a DNA strand to a marble maze game that shows how a newborn baby is colonized by microbes. There is a touch-screen video game along with green screen technology all designed to allow visitors to explore the world of microbes from bacteria to archaea.

 

“There is a hand washing station that teaches us how important it is to wash our hands correctly as well as how long we are doing it and I think most people will be surprised to learn that they probably aren’t washing their hands long enough,” Bender said. “Everything is in game form like puzzles. Very interactive and its makes this exhibit special. You don’t even realize you’re learning while you’re in there.”

 

This exhibit is free with general admission which means those from Kent County who are 17 and under are always free. The exhibit is here through Sept. 2 and it is bilingual which means there are Spanish and English texts throughout the exhibit.

 

On June 16, the Grand Rapids Public Museum will open “Be the Astronaut,” which teaches about the concepts, challenges and excitement of spaceflight, and on July 21, the Museum opens “Hauenstein: A Life of Leadership,” which explores the life of former Grand Rapids resident Ralph W. Hauenstein.

 

For more on activities and exhibits, visit www.grpm.org.

 

WKTV’s Joshua Kennedy contributed to this story.