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| Science & Technology |
| Whirlpool Baths: ENter At Your Own Risk |
| 2006-03-02 |
| Reuters- By Megan Rauscher NEW YORK (Reuters Health) Better think twice beofre soothing those aching muscles in a whirlpool bath or hot tub. A new study shows that whirlpool bathtubs can be a breeding ground for a host of disease causing bacteria. Dr. Rita B. Moyes a microbiologist at Texas A & M University tested 43 water samples from both private and public whirlpool bathtubs. "Every tub tested had some kind of microbial growth," she told Reuters Health. "And I was just getting the few organisms I was testing for, so it is probably just the tip of the iceberg as fas as what is really present. Also, I did no viral testing", Moyes Emphasized. In 95 percent of the tubs, bacteria derived from feces were present, while 81 percent had fungi and 34 percent contained potentially deadly staphylococcus bacteria. The bacteria found in whirlpool baths can lead to a number of diseases, including infections, skin infections and pneumonia. Who is most at risk? The young and old and the immunocompromised should not be exposed. "A chemically maintained hot tub should not be a problem to a healthy person but having recurring infections, consider the tub as a potential source," Much reseach is published in an online journal called PM Engineer. |
| Posted by:ANdrea Jackson |
| #11 LOL Andrea, please tell us more jokes whenever you're in the mood! :-) |
| Posted by: RD 2006-03-02 22:02 |
| #10 You should consider going into the spawning tank business Andrea. |
| Posted by: Visitor 2006-03-02 21:23 |
| #9 I remember year's ago an article in the Boston, MA paper that a couple had gone into the hot tub together to get "HOT" and the man was on top of the woman and he threw his back out and was yelling "Help I've fallen and I can't get it up". Andrea |
| Posted by: Andrea Jackson 2006-03-02 16:44 |
| #8 Very typical SWIM,EAT AND BREATH AT YOUR OWN RISK** Andrea |
| Posted by: Andrea Jackson 2006-03-02 16:41 |
| #7 In Tempe AZ they city fathers installed an obscentity called "the town lake", in utter defiance of reality. To start with, they put it in a dry river bed, that floods periodically. The company that did it used inflatable rubber dams on either side to hold the water in. To fill the damned thing, they used ONE BILLION GALLONS of fresh water, though the good people of the city have to drink recycled effluent in their city water. This is in a damn desert. Upstream of the lake, rainwater turns into a mosquito-breeding swamp, which has now introduced two varieties of encephalitis and west nile fever to the area, and promises in the future to even host mosquitos carrying dengue fever. In summer, despite costing huge amounts of money to replace water lost by evaporation in 115 degree heat and less than 5 percent humidity, the lake also is a perfect habitat for algae and duckweed. The algae, in particular, gives off an immense cloud of spores for the whole area, so that unless swimming pools are kept so chlorinated as to be irritating to the skin, the water will turn some combination of dark green, dark brown and dark yellow. To top it all off, the lake provides some form of recreation and/or entertainment to about 100 people a day, out of a city of 175,000. Many of these 100 people are visitors, not residents. In all fairness, the city does plan to "improve" the riverbanks around the town lake by building highrises and condos on sand in the flood plain. This means that, once completed, the people of city of Tempe will get all of its entertainment value at once, watching them collapse into the river. By then of course, the developers will be long gone, and no one will have been stupid enough to provide the owners with flood insurance. |
| Posted by: Anonymoose 2006-03-02 16:32 |
| #6 Some bacteria is good and too much is dangerous. Homeostasis is the KEY** Andrea |
| Posted by: Andrea Jackson 2006-03-02 16:26 |
| #5 this psicose with germs...sooner or later we will die if we go out of home. Too much clean will kill us. |
| Posted by: Clavising Snort8113 2006-03-02 16:24 |
| #4 I always clean it with the proper cleaner. It's the people who are too lazy that get in to trouble. |
| Posted by: Deacon Blues 2006-03-02 16:21 |
| #3 Deacon Blue: Don't clean your hot tub with the proper cleaner and you will have more than aching muscle's!##!!! Andrea |
| Posted by: Andrea Jackson 2006-03-02 16:17 |
| #2 The interior pipes of the whirlpool baths that are not filtered or chemically treated and poorly maintained hot tubs, are prime areas for potentially infectious microbes to congregate and grow, Moyes noted. The organisms often form biofilm, a community of organisms that work together and are more resistant to cleaners. When jets are switched on, the bacteria -packed water gets blown into the tub with the movement of the water, an aerosol is created that carries these organisms down your lungs or other orifices-something that does not happen in a regular tub". Moyes states. And YES, A chemically maintainted tub should not be a problem!. |
| Posted by: Andrea Jackson 2006-03-02 16:12 |
| #1 If it's cleaned well after each use it shouldn't be a problem. I've had my whirlpool bath for years. |
| Posted by: Deacon Blues 2006-03-02 16:03 |