General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsShit hits more than the fan-Fecal matter found on more than 60% of toothbrushes in shared bathrooms
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/294945.php<snip>
Sharing a bathroom with other people can have its downfalls - wet towels all over the floor, toilet seats left up, and that person who never replaces the toilet paper. But a new study finds there is one communal bathroom issue that is much more pressing: fecal contamination on toothbrushes.
More than 60% of toothbrushes collected from shared bathrooms contained fecal matter, the researchers found.
Recently presented at the American Society for Microbiology annual meeting in New Orleans, LA, the study found that more than 60% of toothbrushes collected from students' shared bathrooms tested positive for fecal matter.
What is more, the researchers found there was an 80% chance that the fecal contamination identified on the toothbrushes came from other people using the bathroom - a worrying finding.
-----------------------------
So how many DUers watched the Mythbusters' Episode on this topic??
Toothbrush Fecal Matter
fecal-matter-on-toothbrush0-1
As seen in "MythBusters: Breakstep Bridge"
iStockphoto/Thinkstock
Finding: CONFIRMED
Explanation: Every time you flush a toilet, it releases an aerosol spray of tiny tainted water droplets. So if, like many people, you leave your toothbrush in the vicinity of a toilet, does that mean it's regularly bathed in bits of fecal matter? MythBusters Jamie Hyneman and Adam Savage uncovered the dirty truth to this myth by covering a bathroom with 24 toothbrushes, two of which they brushed with each morning the others they simply rinsed every day for a month.
As experimental controls, the MythBusters kept two untainted toothbrushes in an office far away from the lavatory. At the end of the month-long trial, they sent their toothbrush collection to a microbiologist for bacterial testing.
Astonishingly, all the toothbrushes were speckled with microscopic fecal matter, including the ones that had never seen the inside of a bathroom. The confirmed myth unfortunately proved that there's indeed fecal matter on toothbrushes and also everywhere else.
====================
Oh Shit! Ewwwwwwwww!
marmar
(77,090 posts)yeoman6987
(14,449 posts)Sometimes being ignorant has its plus'.
Phentex
(16,334 posts)At least it's my OWN fecal matter. I'm the only one who uses my bathroom.
yeoman6987
(14,449 posts)Phentex
(16,334 posts)Bonobo
(29,257 posts)bathes and washes up and brushes teeth.
malaise
(269,157 posts)but more for efficiency than anything else.
whatthehey
(3,660 posts)Sheepshank
(12,504 posts)so the aerosol spray of water and fecal matter, lingers on us and get re-distributed every place we go. Nice to know.
malaise
(269,157 posts)but more for efficiency than anything else.
pnwmom
(108,994 posts)on the toothbrushes kept in a separate room?
Major Nikon
(36,827 posts)That's why I always ask where the toilet is. It may not be in the same room as the bath.
1939
(1,683 posts)You spray any room you are in with fecal matter.
Jester Messiah
(4,711 posts)I also greatly appreciate that my Sonicare toothbrush has a little plastic cap that goes over the brush head when not in use. Probably not 100% effective, but it at least makes me feel better...
Snobblevitch
(1,958 posts)in our house about whether the tpilet seat is left up or down. The only time the lid AND/OR the seat is up is when the toilet is in use. The lid is down and then flushed awaiting the next person to use the toilet.
The only way the Mythbusters got fecal matter on the tooth brushes that were kept in an office away from the toilet is that they had fecal matter on tbeir hands when handling them.
olddots
(10,237 posts)A planet covered in poop and old tooth brushes .
randome
(34,845 posts)We are all evolved from shit and to shit we will return. Well, if we can't avoid it, that is.
Hm. Think I'll keep my toothbrush inside the medicine cabinet from now on.
[hr][font color="blue"][center]Aspire to inspire.[/center][/font][hr]
Pooka Fey
(3,496 posts)Very practical.
Initech
(100,102 posts)Initech
(100,102 posts)csziggy
(34,137 posts)Toothbrush myth starts at just after the 28:00 mark
malaise
(269,157 posts)Can't help wondering if they led others to conduct the study
Inkfreak
(1,695 posts)napkinz
(17,199 posts)malaise
(269,157 posts)nolabear
(41,991 posts)We weren't meant to live in a sterile environment. Most of us have immune systems designed to deal with little contaminations, and in fact a little ordinary, non-disease riddled bacteria is good for us.
Keep things nice and clean, don't be gross in your habits and let it goooooooooo. The cortisol you're bathing your brain in worrying about every little thing is worse for you.
malaise
(269,157 posts)but this is an Ewwwwwwwwwwww subject.
nolabear
(41,991 posts)DashOneBravo
(2,679 posts)Toothbrush covers!
No shit.
brewens
(13,620 posts)sunlight was coming in from a high window directly at the toilet. It didn't really surprise me but the amount of splash droplets I could see clearly escaping the bowl was amazing. You don't see that in most normal light.
DJ13
(23,671 posts)WIPE before you twerk!
MoonRiver
(36,926 posts)Just thought I was protecting against mouth germs, but maybe more! My husband and I have different bathrooms, but still
Lyric
(12,675 posts)So his toothbrush is always safely covered in his bathroom. In our master bath, the toilet is in its own closed-door room along with a stall shower, and we store our toothbrushes in a cabinet out in the main bathroom where the sinks and tub are.
Logical
(22,457 posts)Iggo
(47,565 posts)No fuckin way!
Kaleva
(36,342 posts)Tierra_y_Libertad
(50,414 posts)olddots
(10,237 posts)There are traces of tooth paste in poopy doody ca-ca