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Bacteria on Women's Purses
Netlore Archive:  Forwarded email relays the findings of a TV news investigative report on fecal contamination and e coli bacteria detected on women's purses

Description:  Email flier
Circulating since:  May 2006
Status:  True
Analysis:  See below
 

Email example contributed by L. Smith, 24 June 2006:

FW: Bacteria on Purses

Passing this along to the fellas that I know would want to send this to their wives/girlfriend and mothers.

LADIES/MEN, BEWARE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This is very informative.

This is a factual report aired today on Health News, Fox 5, Atlanta, GA. A   study was recently performed on women's purses. A health team went to a local mall and took samples from the bottom of 50 women's purses. The purses were swabbed with cotton swabs along the entire bottom of the purses   and placed into special containers. The swabs were then processed at a local laboratory.

The Health Report also showed where women place their purses: public restrooms (on the floor beside the toilet), kitchen counters & kitchen tables, on tables & chairs in restaurants, etc. The results of the laboratory tests contained the following most serious result: 1 out of 4 purses contained E COLI. Other extremely serious bacteria also were listed, including Hepatitis.

They recommended that women should DAILY wipe their purses (particularly the bottom) with a disinfectant wipe and to be extremely careful where you set your purse. Most important, do NOT place your purse on a table (anywhere) where you will eat or on a kitchen counter, and do not put it anywhere close to a toilet. Remember, when you flush a toilet, the spray goes a distance that is unrecognizable by the human eye.

WASH YOUR HANDS as often as you can! Keep an antibacterial hand sanitizer cleaner (no water needed) in your purse and use it often! And as soon as you get home from shopping (or wherever you have been and used your purse), immediately wipe it all over with a disinfectant wipe.

MEN who do not wash their hands after relieving themselves should be ASHAMED! Not only that, they are seriously affecting your health and their own. My husband has told me many, many times (over 50% ratio) that he has seen men in public restrooms relieve themselves, zip up, and immediately leave the restroom without washing their hands!! Women, get on your men and be sure they are washing thoroughly after using the restroom.

My hubby also noted that everyone spends all this time washing their hands and then grabs the door handle to exit the restroom. So DUH! All those other folks who did NOT wash their hands have their germs all over the door handle! And I have seen many women who do NOT wash their hands after using the restroom. So, use that paper towel you dried your hands on to open the door and then dispose of it in the closest waste receptacle. (Women, please do not put it in your purse!).

Please do your part for yourself and everyone else! As soon as I saw the report, I immediately cleaned my purse with my Clorox Antibacterial Wipe and then set it on a paper towel, where I normally place it on a table in our den. And I asked my hubby to PLEASE scold me if he ever saw me putting my purse on the kitchen table or counter again!


Comments:  True. The above message was inspired by a spate of TV news stories in May 2006 in which investigators tested the outside surfaces of woman's purses and found evidence of fecal contamination, e coli, salmonella, and other forms of bacteria. "Some purses," noted reporter Eric Wilkinson of King 5 News in Seattle, "are 100 times dirtier than the average toilet seat."

Researchers at the University of Arizona say the contamination probably resulted from the purses being placed on the floors of public restrooms. They recommend swabbing purses, backpacks, and briefcases at least once a week with disinfectant wipes. It's also a good idea to hang such items from hooks when visiting public restrooms, or at the very least avoid putting them on the floor.

Despite the near-ubiquitous evidence of contamination, the researchers describe the chances of people getting sick from the germs as "slim."


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Sources and further reading:

Where Has Your Purse Been?
KING5-TV News, 4 May 2006

Your Purse Could Be a Vehicle for Germs
WCBS-TV News, 7 June 2006

Germs in the Backpack and Lunchbox
WebMD.com, 17 October 2005


Last updated: 06/28/06


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