Year 5 Science Class

This week I was asked to run a science class at a local school for 40 year 5 children (aged 9-10). Using the ultra-violet light torch and glow in the dark powder, we carried out 3 experiments. Some of the children had seen me doing something very similar on GMTV in the summer.

 

First I explained that you can’t see bacteria and viruses with the naked eye, and that whilst most micro-organisms are harmless, some can cause illness, and these are called pathogens. Our experiments were to demonstrate how bacteria and viruses could spread. Because the powder is invisible in bright light, it is very useful to show how invisible micro-organisms can transfer from hand to hand or surface to surface around the home.

 

Group one was asked to form a line and the first girl shook my hand, then turned round and shook the hand of the girl behind and so on to the end. Then we dimmed the lights and using the torch we could see the spread of the powder from one girl to the next. This demonstrated how germs could spread via hands. The powder was still visible on the 7^th hand! Obviously the importance of hand-washing was becoming evident….

 

Group 2 used a tea towel to wipe some wet drinking beakers. What they didn’t know is that I had put some of the powder on the tea towel! When we shone the torch on the cups, the powder could be seen on the inside of the cups. This showed how important it is to wash the tea towel regularly so that you are not putting bacteria onto your clean crockery and cutlery when drying up.

 

Group 3 were asked to go and “clean” some surfaces in the classroom with a cloth – and guess what? There was some glow in the dark powder on the cloth too. So when we shone the torch on the surfaces, we saw how the powder had transferred to surfaces. This demonstrated how dangerous a dirty cloth could be. I told them about all the dirty cloths we found in the UK survey, many of them with E.coli on.

 

Group 4 used the “green is clean” swab to see if there were any dirty areas in the toilets and classroom – but well done school cleaners – all was sparkling!!

 

Finally, as the powder was now on nearly everyone’s hands, I played a little trick, and asked everyone to wash their hands. Then I used the torch to see who had done it properly – oh dear! We then had a discussion on how to make sure that the backs of hands are washed, between the fingers and nails. The time it takes to sing “happy birthday to you” all the way through twice is how long you should take. So I guess it will be quite noisy at the sinks now – sorry teachers!!

 

On 15^th October it was Global Hand Washing Day, so this was very timely.

 

We then gave out homework sheets and one task was to invent a bug, draw a picture of it and give it a name. We have put these pictures on our web site:  http://www.hygieneauditsystems.com/news.html

Global Home Hygiene Study

Earlier this year we were commissioned by the Hygiene Council to undertake a first-of-its-kind study, looking at home hygiene across the globe. Bacteria can be introduced to the home in a number of ways including human transmission, pets and food stuffs.  Effective household and personal hygiene practices are essential to maintain a healthy, safe home environment for the family.

 

The study assessed the level of contamination at various sites in regular family homes. The results were analysed to determine the level of possible exposure to harmful germs in homes and address whether there is a need to review our cleaning habits and take action to improve them. The home swabbing study was carried out in homes in seven different countries (UK, USA, Germany, South Africa, Saudi Arabia, Malaysia & India). 

 

The results demonstrated a need, particularly in some countries, for better understanding of kitchen hygiene and the impact on food safety.

 

The research revealed that Britain is the dirtiest country in the developed world, with the dirtiest item found world-wide being the kitchen cloth – a potential bacterial bomb. Extremely high levels of bacteria, including indicators of faecal contamination, pathogens such as Staphylococcus aureus were found on many cloths. If the kitchen cloth is so dirty, then all surfaces it touches will become contaminated; in fact the kitchen cloth is the antithesis of cleaning – it should be called the contaminating cloth not the cleaning cloth!

 

The contamination of hand-contact surfaces such as taps and refrigerator handles showed a need to improve hand-washing, but of course if taps are contaminated, the effect of hand washing is negated as soon as the tap is touched to switch it off. Therefore cleaning regimes in the home must include sanitising taps on a regular basis, and there needs to be an awareness of how contamination can spread after handling raw meat, poultry and other contaminated objects.

 

Visual appearance is not a reliable indicator of cleanliness or bacterial levels. Some areas were described as visibly clean and found to be very heavily contaminated. This is important, because it shows the need for education to stress that bacteria are invisible to the naked eye. One person using a kitchen after another has previously prepared raw poultry will not be able to see high numbers of organisms such as Salmonella, Campylobacter or E.coli, which could have been left behind.

 

The best way to protect your family from bacteria is to clean hygiene hotspots, like taps and kitchen surfaces, on a regular basis with a quality disinfectant or antibacterial cleaner. Don’t forget to use an antibacterial cleaner when using a kitchen cloth, and replace your cloths regularly. You could use disposable antibacterial wipes, or soak cloths in disinfectant liquid overnight to kill bugs. If you’re using a dirty cloth to clean, then you’re not cleaning anything at all.

 

For more details of the findings of the study go to : www.hygienecouncil.co.uk