O/T Got this from another list, makes you think......Buy a purse with a shoulder strap and hang it up!

[Guest guest]

Women's Purses

 

 

 

While we may know what's inside our purses, do you have any idea as to what

is growing on the outside?

 

 

 

Shaun Lake put purses to the test - for bacteria - with surprising results.

 

 

 

Women carry purses everywhere -- from the office to public restrooms to the

floor of the car.

 

 

 

" I drive a school bus, so my purse has been on the floor of the bus a lot, "

says one woman, " and also on the floor of my car, and in restrooms. "

 

 

 

" I put my purse in grocery shopping carts, on the floor of bathroom stalls

while changing a diaper, " says another woman. " And of course in my home -

which should be clean. "

 

 

 

We decided to find out if purses harbor a lot of bacteria. We learned how to

test them at Nelson Laboratories in Salt Lake, then we set out to test the

average woman's purse. Most women told us they didn't stop to think about

what was on the bottom of their purse.

 

 

 

Most said they usually set their purses on top of kitchen tables and

counters where food is prepared.

 

 

 

Most of the ladies we talked to told us they wouldn't be surprised if their

purses were at least a little bit dirty. It turns out purses are so

surprisingly dirty, even the microbiologist who tested them was shocked.

 

 

 

Microbiologist Amy Karren of Nelson Labs says nearly all the purses tested

were not only high in bacteria, but high in harmful kinds of bacteria:

 

 

 

~ Pseudomonas can cause eye infections; ~ Staphylococcus aurous can cause

serious skin infections; and ~ Salmonella and e-coli found on the purses

could make people very sick.

 

 

 

In one sampling, four out of five purses tested positive for salmonella.

 

 

 

" There was also fecal contamination on the purses, " says Amy.

 

 

 

Leather or vinyl purses tended to be cleaner than cloth purses, and

lifestyle seemed to play a role. People with kids tended to have dirtier

purses than those without, with one exception. The purse of one single woman

who frequented nightclubs had one of the worst contaminations of all. " Some

type of feces and even vomit was on the bottom, " says Amy.

 

 

 

So the moral of this story - your purse won't kill you, but it does have the

potential to make you very sick if you keep it on places where you eat. Use

hooks to hang your purse at home and in restrooms, and don't put it on your

desk, on a restaurant table, or on your kitchen counter top.

 

 

 

Experts say you should think of your purse the same way you would a pair of

shoes. Would you consider putting a pair of shoes onto your counter tops?

Well that's the same thing you're doing when you put your purse on the

countertops.

 

 

 

The microbiologists at Nelson also said cleaning a purse will help. Wash

cloth purses and use leather cleaner to clean the bottom of leather purses.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

www.essentiallywiccan.com

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Guest guest]

EEEEEEWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW! Makes me wanna give up on me purse

altogether. I keep most of me stuff and ALWAYS me money in me pockets

anyway. EWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW! Thanks for the gross out Carol. >shiver<

 

K (back from a two week holiday and 4 days of Wild Oregonion Flu)

 

On 8/31/06, cjpearce <cjpearce wrote:

>

> Women's Purses

>

> While we may know what's inside our purses, do you have any idea as to

> what

> is growing on the outside?

>

> Shaun Lake put purses to the test - for bacteria - with surprising

> results.

>

> Women carry purses everywhere -- from the office to public restrooms to

> the

> floor of the car.

>

> " I drive a school bus, so my purse has been on the floor of the bus a

> lot, "

> says one woman, " and also on the floor of my car, and in restrooms. "

>

> " I put my purse in grocery shopping carts, on the floor of bathroom stalls

> while changing a diaper, " says another woman. " And of course in my home -

> which should be clean. "

>

> We decided to find out if purses harbor a lot of bacteria. We learned how

> to

> test them at Nelson Laboratories in Salt Lake, then we set out to test the

> average woman's purse. Most women told us they didn't stop to think about

> what was on the bottom of their purse.

>

>

 

 

 

--

Cheers!

Kathleen Petrides

The Woobey Queen

Http://www.woobeyworld.com