Bucket safer than Shower

Shower baths may inject harmful bacteria into human lungs, according to scientists who have identified a risk associated with showerheads that makes bucket-and-tumbler baths appear safer.

A study by US researchers has shown that showerheads harbor vast colonies of bacteria that cling to the outlet zones, creating thin mats of microbes called biofilms, despite the chlorination of water and the force of water.

“Showering creates tiny particles that can be inhaled deep into the lungs — and if these particles contain pathogenic (disease-causing) bacteria, disease may result,” said Leah Feazel, a research team member at the University of Colorado, Boulder.

The study revealed significant levels of Mycobacterium avium, a bacteria known to cause lung disease similar to tuberculosis in persons who are susceptible or who have weakened immune systems, in nearly one-third of the showerheads.

Smoking, chronic lung disease and alcoholism are among risk factors that make people susceptible to lung infection with Mycobacterium avium which can cause chronic shallow cough, fever, fatigue and weight loss.

THE TELEGRAPH