An Arizona woman campaigning to raise awareness about the potential griminess of playgrounds at fast-food restaurants has come to Sacramento.Myself, I think bacteria are very dangerous.
Erin Carr-Jordan has traveled to seven states, spoken to media outlets across the country and started a Facebook group to spread a message that playgrounds – specifically, the big, structural, plastic indoor ones at restaurant chains like Burger King and McDonald's – are full of bacteria that pose a threat to children.
...A laboratory analysis of the samples turned up several types of bacteria including yeast, coliform and bacillus – similar to the results she's found around the rest of the country.
...Scientists from UC Davis say the findings might sound gross, but they're not dangerous.
"I am very unimpressed with that list of bacteria," said George Thompson, an assistant professor in the departments of Medical Microbiology and Immunology, and Internal Medicine, Division of Infectious Diseases at Davis. "As far as kids getting any infections, I wouldn't have a lot of big concerns."
When I was going to the University of Arizona, I needed to set up an experiment in a walk-in refrigerator, of the sort that were only available in the Department of Microbiology, so for a time I shifted from my usual Physics and Astronomy Building perch to the Department of Microbiology, into a refrigerator under the control of Dr. Charles Gerba.
I rarely saw Dr. Gerba, however. He was moving in the opposite direction. He was setting up late-night experiments in the bathrooms of the Physics and Astronomy Building, flushing toilets, and measuring the rate of microorganism dispersal through the air.
Late one night, a security guard walked in on him. The security guard looked askance at the experimental apparatus and the unfamiliar bearded scientist, and drew his service revolver. (This was Arizona, after all.)
So, my motto is, "bacteria are very dangerous to people" (in Arizona, at least).
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