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Showerhead bacteria may be linked to lung disease: Study
The study also revealed that biofilm on showerheads made of metal is more likely to contain mycobacteria than showerheads made of plastic.
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Scientists at CIRES and the University of Colorado analyzed swabs taken from 656 household showers across the United States and 13 countries in Europe. (Shutterstock/File)
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study published by the Scientific Society Publisher Alliance and the American Society for Microbiology on mBio has linked germs on showerheads to lung disease.
The study also revealed that biofilm on showerheads made of metal is more likely to contain mycobacteria than showerheads made of plastic.
“There is a fascinating microbial world thriving in your showerhead and you can be exposed every time you shower,” said the study’s author Dr. Noah Fierer, who is also a member of the Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences (CIRES) and professor of ecology and evolutionary biology at the University of Colorado.
Scientists at CIRES and the University of Colorado analyzed swabs taken from 656 household showers across the United States and 13 countries in Europe. Researchers then sequenced the DNA of the biofilm and determined what types and how many forms of bacteria were present in showerheads.
They found that mycobacteria were more commonly found in the United States — a phenomenon that could be caused by the usage of chlorine-based disinfectants, to which mycobacteria are more resistant compared to other forms of bacteria.
The study centered on the fact that some microbial aerosols could cause nontuberculous mycobacterial infection (NTM). Though most people will not become sick after inhaling mycobacteria, it can cause inflammation if the inhaled organisms attack the lungs. When left untreated, it can lead to a chronic lung infection, causing symptoms such as coughing, shortness of breath, weight loss and lethargy or tiredness.
The treatment may involve the consumption of antibiotics for at least one year.
Read also: The dirty dozen: UN issues list of 12 most worrying bacteria
The study warned that NTM rates were on the rise in developed countries such as the US, and they were “increasingly recognized as a threat to public health,” the study was quoted by an article published by Newsweek.
“Most of those microbes are harmless, but a few are not, and this kind of research is helping us understand how our own actions — from the kinds of water treatment systems we use to the materials in our plumbing — can change the makeup of those microbial communities,” Fierer said.
Plastic showerheads were found to contain chemicals that enabled a wider range of bacteria to grow compared to metals heads. This serves as prevention of the possibility that mycobacteria could dominate the bacterial ecosystem present in the showerhead.
“It’s important to understand routes of mycobacterial exposure, especially in the household,” said CIRES researcher and lead author of the study Matt Gebert. “We can learn a lot from studying the biofilm that accumulates inside your shower head and the associate water chemistry.” (acr/kes)
