This evening, sitting down to read the paper I learnt that October 15th marked 'National Handwashing Day'. That's right, on October 15th, 200 million people (most of them children) gathered together in an act of communal handwashing. Later in the same article I was to learn that this great show of togetherness was backed by Proctor & Gamble, Colgate-Palmolive and Unilever. I suppose that 200 million people wishing to wash their hands needs someone to supply the soap, non?
So now I've eased you into the background and significance of the post, here's a couple of facts for you (that you probably never wanted to know):
- Handbags may carry up to 10,000 bacteria per square inch. So next time you think about going rooting round in a woman's handbag remember this: 30% of these bags carry faecal bacteria - sexy.
- Your chopping board, the one thing which regularly holds food you believe to be good for you, is actually probably equivalent to eating something you found in a mouldy bin on the street - with findings showing it has 200% more faecal bacteria than the average toilet seat. Oooh, I can tell you'll enjoy your tea tonight.
And so back to an article which states that although encouraging people to wash their hands after using the toilet or handling food may seem like stating the obvious, it's actually quite a spectacular statistic which shows just how rare these simple acts of cleanliness are. 95% of us claim to wash our hands after going to the toilet, while in reality only 10-12% of us actually do.
Fanacinatingly disgusting, our soap dodging has unsettling repercussions. One in six UK mobile phones for instance, are contaminated with faecal bacteria (according to a study by the London School of Hygiene) Add to this that the average person touches their face three to five every waking minute and you've got some grubby facts.
Following outbreaks of swine flu and bird flu, it seems we're living in a world which is obsessed with germs but in the same breath devoid / nonchalant about hygiene. You may well hover above the toilet seat in public bathrooms in the style of America Pie, but then then the horror of germs doesn't go as far as the toilet door - a much more ghastly environment...
Apparently there are seven levels of disgust identified in human behaviour; ranging from our disgust at threat of contagion, the site of bodily fluids, rotting foods, physical deformities and moral disgust we direct towards those who violate our own moral codes through cheating, lying or abuse. Every single one of these disgusts are rooted in our desire to avoid contamination.
Don't go dousing yourself in bleach too soon though, as harsh chemicals may also have unwanted consequences. strong soaps, beauty products and biological washing powders strip the skins protective outer layer, leaving us all more likely to develop allergies. So is it a case of the 'what doesn't kill you, makes you stronger' when we talk about germs? Apparently to a degree, it is! Children who have limited exposure to germs and bacteria in earlier life have been proven to have an incresed chance of getting asthma, allergies and autoimmune diseases.
In conclusion, it appears that apparently one of the most effective ways to make people to 'get clean' (at least in the handwashing sense) is to shame them into it. Cue visions of service station goers glaring at those next to them until they thoroughly wash their hands anyone...
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