Gearshift
When you’re driving, microbial infection is the last thing you’re thinking about. But you should wash your hands well when you get to your destination. Why? Because the main word in “manual transmission” is “manual.”
Even if you’re taking a short trip, your hand spends a lot of time on the knob and picking up microorganisms that might be thriving there. A 2010 experiment supports this idea.
Scientists swabbed 12 common items in a suburban family’s home, then tested those items for bacteria, including Staphylococcus aureus and E. coli, and two types of molds, penicillium and aspergillus. One of the things they tested was the gearshift knob of a family car.
It turns out that the gearshift was contaminated with high levels of bacteria and mold. The researchers concluded that drivers pick up mold spores on their way to their cars.
They then take those spores into the vehicle and seal themselves in with those contaminants. If you suffer from respiratory issues, driving over the speed limit may be the least of your worries.
Handrails, doorknobs, and handles
A dermatologist at Columbia University Medical Center in NYC says that one of the most crucial times to remember to wash your hands is after riding public transportation, where many individuals continuously touch the same surfaces.
This includes everything from subway poles to escalators’ handrails to bathroom door handles.
And if you found this post informative, be sure to also read: 10 Common Flu Hotspots You Should Avoid in the Next Couple of Months
7 Responses
I like the idea you mentioned about the bacteria. It can be here anywhere you touch
and you didn’t know.
This is good advice. I can add more to the list. Toilet handle, bathtub knobs and rack pole that you hang your rag on, light fixtures, oven doors and knobs, same with microwaves, refrigerator door handles, remote controls. I believe that was said above. Pool ladders or ladders in general. Buggies at stores. Your credit cards, credit catd machines, keys. Basically everything we touch. Our hair brushes, shampoo bottles , soap bottles, and soap dispenser, computer keyboards, mouses, screens etc. I know there’s a lot more. Lol
I forgot one important thing….. RAW MEATS!!!!!
Very valuable information.
I found this information very important.
I’m a nurse. So you can imagine my world. Also after you sneeze. Car driver wheel etc. shoes when you come in your home.
Wear disposable gloves when picking up fresh vegetables in the store, fresh markets, or the side of the road fresh produce. You don’t know who’s touched the tomatoes. apples, grapes, avocados, stems of the bananas, green beans, etc. Make sure to put each of the same item in the same bag. Even though these vegetables/fruits have a skin over them, that we normally don’t eat the skin portion, you put these items on your countertops @ home prior to washing them. Just like potatoes, cucumbers, etc. we do eat those skins (I personally don’t, but others do), & if not washed well, no telling what you’re ingesting. I thought about this a lot when covid was rampant. There’s so many things we pick up daily w/out thinking to see if it’s ripe enough or too ripe. It’s like car door handles. Whose hands have been wherever at the car wash? Touching the bottom of your shoes when picking them up, or placing in the closet, or on shoe racks? There’s a light available & I really want it only for my kitchen. I’ve seen it used before. It shows you the bacteria, viruses, even insects present after you think you’ve sanitized/cleaned your kitchen or other areas. The you use this light, & see your kitchen countertops, cabinets, handles to pantry’s, appliances, etc. have more germs on them, than your Tiolet has inside/outside of it & anywhere else in your restrooms. Its amazing the amount of bacteria and air born viruses, & much more are on the mirrors in your home, not just restrooms. It’s disgusting when you think about it. It disgusts me more, as I’m an eye rubber. I try hard to remember not to rub my eyes, but it’s a difficult habit to break. They aren’t itchy, burn, etc. It’s a habit I have and I don’t have a clue where I picked it up from. When washing your hands, ensure to really wash under your fingernails. Same goes for toenails. I could go on and on. Running your fingers or hands on or through your hair is just as bad. I recently watched a movie called Poison on Netflix (I realky do t watch those types of documentaries or movies), & I thought to myself, “What food can I actually feel safe eating that’s not contaminated with some type of bacteria or worse, no matter how well you’ve clean it?”Dont get me started on fast food or the finest restaurants you can fathom going to. They all are the same as far as sanitation goes and the food you consume. They all have the same common denominator-human beings work and are eating their, washing the utensils, glasses, and dishes you’re using. If you asked to check their ice machines in any restaurant that’s not brand new, you’d never have a drink with ice in it again. You can’t cook everything and there are things that don’t wash off & if cooked the temps aren’t high enough to kill some things, or it cooks into whatever you’re consuming. What’s crazy, is I’m not a person who usually pays attn to any of the above. So if these things are bothering me, I can’t imagine what it’s doing to those individuals who are & have always been cautious about so much more than the above I’m a Mom & Grandma who knew the basics, & learned more, a lot more as I matured about food contaminates, and other harmful to our bodies and our environment. Especially, as a young child, learning probably the 1st thing I was ever taught and/or made aware of was about raw chicken and its juices. The other things came as I aged into a teenager and are still the commonly known things to most people. Not leaving certain things out too long, or not defrosting meat, except in your fridge, covering foods left in your fridge, etc. Like I said, I don’t know why i decided to start paying attention to the above, and this is a pathetic excuse, but it wasn’t until covid became rampant.
I’m also very aware you need exposure to the majority of things, in order to build up your immunity, but you don’t intentionally have your children go & play in dirty water, or allow them to remove #2 off their shoes, etc. It just happens, and you find out after the fact, and then you scrub your kids down to ensure they’re safe and clean. I know I’m rambling about so many different things and one is right beside me, an oscillating fan. Can you imagine all the particles that I’m unintentionally distributing throughout my home? Something as simple as a ceiling fan (which I do keep clean as best as I can), but thinking now there’s no way I’ve cleaned it well enough to stop it from spreading the pollutants in the air. Actually, cleaning it has nothing to do with it distributing more than the normal amounts of air pollutants throughout the house, cleaning it may help, but it’s not stopping it.
I’m basically a novice compared to so many others. The items I see that I consider to be normal household items, appliances, etc and how they are literally the devices that are making us all catch a cold, virus, or getting sick out of no where, and can’t explain the 3 W’s as to how you contracted whatever it may be to your physician. You know you feel bad, tummy is upset, headaches, somethings not right, and much more. It’s making me itch just thinking about it. But then again, we can’t live in a bubble or protect our loved ones, and/or ourselves 24/7. Our ancestors lived a lot longer lives than the majority of us & they grew up working in fields (w/out face masks), using lard as a seasoning, rolled their own cigarettes (no filter), and their ancestors before them, didn’t bathe no where near as often, wash their hair, wear clean clothing (it was done on a washboard by hand or using a crank). But they did hang their clothes in the sun (which I’ve learned over the years, is better than using your dryer). They swept vs vacuumed w/out HEPA filters, and they definitely outlived us as far as age goes. Most people lived to the age of 100+, & their date of birth is written in a Bible. They didn’t have modern medications, equipment, and the scientists who knew how to clean up the environment vs contaminating it, or keeping us healthy by medical intervention except use castor oil or something to that effect. Then you have us, who are trying to do what we know are the correct procedures to make/do things and hope our lifespan is longer than the average lifespan is of a person to current date, & help our environment so our children and their children and families have a better future. Our lifespan isn’t close to our ancestors lifespan. It’s a difference of 30+ years they outlived us?
Bottom line …. Its a catch 22.
*Plz. excuse all typos and grammatical errors, as I’m not the best typist in the world, and the predictive text doesn’t help me either!! It only takes one letter to change the meaning of an entire sentence. I use to proofread everything I’d or mainly others had typed prior to sending out.
I couldn’t believe all the typos I had made & how those typos changed the complete conversation, which was supposed to read the opposite of what I had typed. So if there are words that you’re aware of which don’t pertain to being cautious, clean, helping the environment, etc. Please know that’s definitely a typo. I type so slow that I don’t have time to go back and proofread (which I’m incredibly gifted in catching verbiage and grammatical errors), as I’ve always had a data processing team, secretary, assistant, etc. which I always proofed their work, prior to it leaving the office via a letter in the mail, email, text, pigeon etc, I would see the errors immediately (punctuation, spelling, grammar, proper verbiage, etc.-which was an abbreviation never used used in the work environment), as it reflected
on me, and my abilities, and the corporation I worked with. Now I find myself doing the complete opposite and if I was who I was years ago, I wouldn’t have dared sent this comment in the condition it’s in. However; I’m trying to see there are so much more important things in life, than using “there & their” in the proper context. Plz don’t get me wrong or misunderstand what I’m trying to say or make a point, as I’m huge advocate when it concerns education. Believe me, errors were my pet peeve. But guess what, we all are human and incredible individuals at that, and we make a lot of mistakes/errors, that are much worse than grammatical or spelling errors!!! Earlier I said the bottom line was xxxxxx, but truly the bottom lines are:
Don’t sweat or worry about the smaller things in life, focus on the individuals in your life and help others you don’t know when help is needed. You will be a better and happier person as you get older. Your understanding of who/what are absolutely the most important things in your life, need to slap us in the face the moment we’re able to understand and learn valuable lessons. Always, let it be known, how much you love, care, and cherish the people in your life, so you never question yourself, with the words, “I hope they know/knew how much they are/were so very loved?” Life’s too short to worry about the things that aren’t going to hurt them or anyone else. Worry about who and what’s going to make others happy, as it will make you a better person in the end!