The "dirty little secret" of traveling -
USA Today March, 2002
You may be catching more than a train or a flight when traveling. Did you know that the Federal Aviation Administration does not regulate the cleaning of airplanes, or that the microscopic spray from an infected cougher can be propelled as far as 25 feet? Those who opt for road trips could be letting bacteria and viruses hitch a ride with them by making a pit stop for lunch.
"Public transportation outlets are not cleaned on a regular basis and see a large volume of travelers, creating a `petri dish' effect," warns Catharine Shaner of the American Safety and Health Institute. "Just because a surface looks clean does not mean it is." The following are some facts that may leave you sitting on the edge of your seat:
* According to an executive director of the Aviation Consumer Group, interior surfaces of a typical airplane cabin are less sanitary than a public restroom.
* The Aviation Consumer Group also had investigators from an Ohio lab test the food trays from 10 airlines and found Staphylococcus aureus, which causes skin infections like impetigo or toxic shock syndrome.
* The blankets and pillows offered on airplanes are not freshly laundered for each flight. Flight attendants from major airlines say they don't personally use them.
* A study conducted by the American Society for Microbiology in well-trafficked bathrooms of major city train stations found just 58% of the 7,836 people observed in the survey washed their hands before leaving the bathroom.
* Food trays of various popular fast-food restaurants and cafeterias have been known to be contaminated with skin, saliva, fecal bacteria, and other pathogens that could cause serious infections. Even the paper liners of trays are contaminated, since the trays are usually stacked on top of one another.
"Germs and viruses are everywhere," says Shaner. "At home, we have some control of the germs, but when traveling we become vulnerable? she emphasizes.
COPYRIGHT 2002 Society for the Advancement of Education
PS: According to an article from just yesterday, airline cabins are about as gross as ever, with the cost cutting practices that have been implemented over the past year.
The white man seeks to conquer nature, to bend it to his will and to use it wastefully until it is all gone and then he simply moves on, leaving the waste behind him and looking for new places to take. Chiksika (Kispokotha Shawnee),March 19,1779
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