Would You Believe It?

With the growing interest in all things green and clean my attention was caught by a quotation from Dr Lisa Maragakis who is a specialist in infectious diseases at the John Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore US who said, “Newer is not necessarily better when it comes to infection control in hospitals, especially when it comes to warding off potential hazards from water-borne bacteria, such as Legionella species,”

I probably wouldn’t have thought any more of it until I discovered she was talking about hands-free taps.  Suddenly my illusions were shattered as I have considered one of the best inventions of recent years.  I have verbally ridiculed the recent TV advertising by one major manufacturer of liquid soap about their hands-free soap dispenser after all who cares if there are germs on the dispenser because you are going to wash your hands anyway but hands-free taps now that is something quite different.

When passing through the toilet in a motorway service station I bless the owners if they have hands-free taps but now what am I to think.

Apparently researchers when making comparisons at John Hopkins Hospital of bacterial growth on conventional and hands-free taps found that the new taps harbour more germs than the manual ones.  They reported that from the water samples there was legionella growing on 15% of the conventional taps but 50% on the hands-free and when they checked on other bacteria there was twice as much on the hands-free.

So far there has been no definitive reason given but the suggestion is that the hands-free taps have more complex mechanical components which in turns means there is a greater surface area for the bacteria to be trapped and grow.

The report has been taken seriously by the hospital authority to the extent that they have authorised the removal of hand-free taps and their replacement with conventional taps.

Wow.  I wonder what they would say about the latest hand driers which are so powerful that they blow a spray up into your face as well as everywhere else?

Oh yes, while I think about it, what do you think about automatic soap dispensers?

Good Idea or not?

Green and healthy idea or a marketing ploy to guilt us into spending money?

I haven’t got hands-free taps so do I turn the water with my dirty germ covered hand or wait until I have covered my fingers with antiseptic soap?  I think I need a cup of tea so I can think about that one.