I never gave it a thought. Who would
have ever thought much about it?
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? 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?
... been on the floor of the bus a lot . ... On the floor of
my car .... in grocery shopping carts.... on
the floor of the ladies' room ... and of course at 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.
The handbag of one single woman who
frequented nightclubs had one of the worst contamination 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.
Wash cloth handbags and use leather
cleaner to clean the bottom of leather handbags.
Another thought: Carry a small spray bottle of disinfectant, for use in public restrooms (at least).
have ever thought much about it?
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? 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?
... been on the floor of the bus a lot . ... On the floor of
my car .... in grocery shopping carts.... on
the floor of the ladies' room ... and of course at 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.
The handbag of one single woman who
frequented nightclubs had one of the worst contamination 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.
Wash cloth handbags and use leather
cleaner to clean the bottom of leather handbags.
Another thought: Carry a small spray bottle of disinfectant, for use in public restrooms (at least).