Watch Out For the Germ Patrol
Germs lurk everywhere. However, they also congregate in places you might have thought were germ-free.
In today's excerpt from my new hardcover book Intelligence For Your Life: Powerful Lessons For Personal Growth, we're going to lift the lid off some unsuspecting places where germs are hiding out in your home.
Quick question: Which is cleaner—the average public toilet seat or the average home kitchen countertop? If you chose the countertop, choose again! In a study reported in the London Daily Mail, 85 percent of public toilets tested were cleaner than in-home food prep areas. In fact, the average kitchen surface contains ten times more bacteria than a toilet seat!
The London Daily Mail reported that researchers say it’s mostly because people don’t wash their hands properly after working with raw meat or using the bathroom. And unwashed hands are the primary carriers of various germs and pathogens like E. coli and salmonella.
More than 10,000 people took part in another study according to the London Daily Mail, which focused on basic hygiene principles, including how often people properly washed their hands (thirty seconds with hot water and soap) after using the bathroom. The result? Only one out of four men and one out of two women washed up properly. Then, researchers tested for germs around each volunteer’s house. They found enough bacteria to make people ill on things like light switches, door handles, and the cutting board in the kitchen.
So what’s the absolutely germiest place in the kitchen? The tray on a baby highchair!
A staggering 60 percent of baby highchair trays were contaminated with coliform bacteria, which comes from fecal matter, raw meat, dirt, or unwashed vegetables. In fact, in every single home tested the floors were cleaner than the highchair trays. Forty percent of those floors were actually clean enough to serve food on!
So, what’s a homemaker to do? Pull out the hot water and bleach. If you want to protect yourself and your family from dangerous germs, at least once a week use hot water and bleach to clean the kitchen surfaces that come in contact with food.
John
Email John: johnsblog@teshmedia.com
My new book Intelligence For Your Life: Powerful Lessons For Personal Growth is now available in your local bookstores or you can order it online from Amazon.com and Barnes & Noble.
FYI - California already has a law addressing children left alone in cars.
It is called "Kaitlyn's Law, The Unattended Child in Motor Vehicle Act,SB 255. The following is the first line of Kaitlyn's Law: 15620. (a) A parent, legal guardian, or other person responsible for a child who is 6 years of age or younger may not leave that child inside a motor vehicle without being subject to the supervision of a person who is 12 years of age or older, under either of the following circumstance.
It does not make sense that another bill would be introduced when there is an existing one and there is no time limit permitted.
Kaitlyn's Law was named after Kaitlyn Russell who was left in a hot car by her
babysitter February 8, 2000.
Sad to say but far this year, there have already been two deaths of children left alone, one in Catalina, Arizona and one in Houston,Texas. And it is only March.
For those of us working toward educating the public about this avoidable tragedy, I refer you to the following websites: www.forgetmenotusa.com,www.4rkidssake.org, www.harrisonshope.com, www.carsnkids.com, and http://ggweather.com/heat/index.htm.
Thank you for you concern and caring about this very real problem.
Andrea Lester
Forget Me Not USA
921 Golf Club Drive
Burneyville, OK 73430
www.forgetmenotusa.com
info@forgetmenotusa.com
Posted by: Andrea | March 28, 2008 at 11:52 AM