HANDBAGS...
>
> Who would have thought?
>
> Have you ever noticed gals who sit their handbags on public toilet floors
> - then go directly to their dining tables and set it on the table? Happens a
> lot!
>
> It's not always the 'restaurant food' that causes stomach distress.
>
> Sometimes "what you don't know 'will' hurt you"!
>
> Read on...
>
> Mom got so upset when guests came in the door and plopped their handbags
> down on the counter where she was cooking or setting up food. She always said
> that handbags are really dirty, because of where they have been.
>
> Smart Mom!!!
>
> It's something just about every woman carries with them. While we may
> know what's inside our handbags, do you have any idea what's on the outside?
> Shauna Lake put handbags to the test - for bacteria - with surprising results.
> You may think twice about where you put your handbag.
>
> Women carry handbags everywhere; from the office to public toilets to the
> floor of the car. Most women won't be caught without their handbags, but did
> you ever stop to think about where your handbag goes during the day?
>
> "I drive a school bus, so my handbag has been on the floor of the bus a
> lot," says one woman. "On the floor of my car, and in toilets." "I put my
> handbag in grocery shopping carts, on the floor of the toilet while changing a
> nappy," says another woman "and of course in my home which should be clean."
>
> We decided to find out if handbags harbor a lot of bacteria. We learned
> how to test them at Nelson Laboratories in Salt Lake, and then we set out to
> test the average woman's handbag.
>
> Most women told us they didn't stop to think about what was on the bottom
> of their handbag. Most said at home they usually set their handbags 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 handbags were at least a little bit dirty. It turns out handbags are so
> surprisingly dirty, even the microbiologist who tested them was shocked.
>
> Microbiologist Amy Karen of Nelson Labs says nearly all of the handbags
> 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 handbags could make
> people very sick.
>
> In one sampling, four of five handbags tested positive for salmonella, and
> that's not the worst of it. "There is fecal contamination on the handbags,"
> says Amy. Leather or vinyl handbags tended to be cleaner than cloth handbags,
> and lifestyle seemed to play a role. People with kids tended to have dirtier
> handbags than those without, with one exception. The handbag of one single
> woman who frequented nightclubs had one of the worst contaminations of all.
> "Some type of feces, or possibly vomit" says Amy.
>
> So the moral of this story - your handbag 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 handbag at home and in toilets, and don't put it on
> your desk, a restaurant table, or on your kitchen countertop. Experts say you
> should think of your handbag the same way you would a pair of shoes. "If you
> think about putting a pair of shoes onto your countertops, that's the same thing
> you're doing when you put your handbag on the countertops" - your handbag has
> gone where individuals before you have sneezed, coughed, spat, urinated, emptied
> bowels, etc! Do you really want to bring that home with you? The
> microbiologists at Nelson also said cleaning a handbag will help.
2007-11-26
11:40:09
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17 answers
·
asked by
kayboff
7