#HTE

Study Reveals Bath Toys Contain Bacteria and Fungi

Bath toys sound harmless enough, but cut one open and you’ll get a nasty surprise. Researchers at ETH Zurich’s Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology, in a joint study with the University of Illinois, confirmed the “biofouling phenomenon” by which bath toys become breeding grounds for bacteria and fungus “not detectable in the bath water itself.” The flexible plastic materials bath toys are made from, like silicone rubber or PVC (polyvinyl chloride) leach organic carbon, which bacteria can feed on.

Here, we characterized biofilm communities inside 19 bath toys used under real conditions. In addition, some determinants for biofilm formation were assessed, using six identical bath toys under controlled conditions with either clean water prior to bathing or dirty water after bathing. All examined bath toys revealed notable biofilms on their inner surface….

Bacterial community compositions were diverse, showing many rare taxa in real bath toys and rather distinct communities in control bath toys, with a noticeable difference between clean and dirty water control biofilms. Fungi were identified in 58% of all real bath toys and in all dirty water control toys.

Of course not all bacteria is bad, and indeed being exposed to it can help strengthen our immune systems; but what is of concern are the potentially harmful kinds, the “opportunistic pathogens” uncovered in the study: E.coli, Staphylococcus spp., Streptococcus spp. and Chlamydia spp. all appeared in various percentages. So did fungal “black yeast and relatives,” which are linked to human infections.