You are very likely to use A bottle of water Reusable for your day to day, either for the gym, the work or simply to drink when you are a house. But you may not be aware of the large number of germs and bacteria that accumulate in them, even if they are glass.
Science has now quantified. Carl Behnke He is an expert in food security at the University of Purdue in Indiana, USA and he asked how many germs there would be in his bottle.
Behnke introduced pieces of cooking paper in his bottle: “They were white until I took them out,” he says in statements collected by the BBC. “I realized that the slippery sensation I felt inside the bottle was not due to the material, but to the accumulation of bacteria“, said.
Then he decided to carry out A scientific study. Behnke and his collaborators were addressing the students of the University of Purdue And they were asked to lend their water bottles for investigation.
“Something that stood out of the project was the number of people who did not want to know the results,” Behnke recalls. “Basically, they knew that their cleaning habits were poor or non -existent, something that the data later confirmed.” Indeed, the results confirmed that Those bottles were full of bacteria.
Freestone primroseassociated professor of clinical microbiology at the University of Leicester, the United Kingdom, explains for the BBC that bacteria that can cause human infections thrive to around 37 ° C, says Freestone, but can also be multiplied at room temperature, around 20 ° C.
“The longer the water is stored in a bottle to Ambient temperature, More bacteria will grow, “says Freestone.
A study conducted in Singapore with boiled tap water, which should have eliminated most bacteria, revealed that bacterial populations They can grow quickly inside water bottles As they are used throughout the day.
On average, it was observed that bottled water used by adults goes from having around 75,000 bacteria per milliliter in mid -morning more than 1,000,000 per millilitro in 24 hours.
Freestone primrose says that a way to delay bacterial growth is to save the bottle in the refrigerator, although This does not prevent it from growing completely.
Although part of the bacterial activity of a bottle of water comes from the water itself, most of the pollution introduces it Who drinks her. The microbes are easily transferred to the content of the bottle along with the bacteria of the mouth every time you drink, says Freestone.
It is also important to have good hygiene in the bathroom. “Bacteria associated with feces, As the E. coli, they can come from our hands and finish on our lips if we do not have good hygiene in the bathroom, “says Freestone.
In addition, we can transmit or contract viruses by sharing water bottles with others. Diseases such as Norovirus could easily be transmitted in this waySay the experts.
People generally have Between 500 and 600 different species of bacteria Living in the mouth, says Freestone. “What is not necessarily pathogen for you, is not always for others. You can be a bearer of an infection and not realize, because our immune system is very effective to protect us,” he adds.
Another way to encourage bacterial growth in your bottle is to add something other than fresh water. For example, Any sugary drink It can stimulate the growth of bacteria or mold present in your bottle, says Freestone.
“Anything other than water It is a paradise for bacteria And fungi, especially protein shakes, “says the expert.
How to clean the reusable bottles? Carl Behnke says they also investigated those details and revealed that the people who washed their bottle with tools such as a brush or used the dishwasher had less amount of bacteria inside.
Behnke and his collaborators suggest that using A dishwasher with disinfection cycle It could be the most effective method to clean the bottles we reuse.
For its part, Freestone recommends cleaning reusable bottles with hot water (more than 60 ° C) since this temperature kills most pathogens and using dishwasher liquid, Making it turn and leaving the bottle for 10 minutes Before rinse well with hot water.
Then, you have Let the bottle dry into the air It is the best way to avoid the accumulation of bacteria in the bottle, because microorganisms prefer wet environments.
You should clean your bottle in this way after each use, or at least several times a week, says Freestone. And never wait for it to start smelling bad, he warns. “If your bottle begins to smell bad, You have reached the point where you must throw it“, he says.
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