Your eco-friendly shopping bag could be making you sick, a study says. But before you make the switch back to plastic, you might want to consider the source.
An alarming 15-page paper, published on the website for Canada's Environment and Plastics Industry Council, concluded that re-usable grocery bags are 'a breeding ground for bacteria and pose a public health risk' due to high counts of yeast, moulds and bacteria.
The potential hazards include 'food poisoning ... bacterial boils, allergic reactions, triggering of asthma attacks, and ear infections,' according to the paper.
Plastic shopping bags, on the other hand, may have turned the ocean into a garbage dump, but they're 'more hygienic than re-usables,' EPIC said.
Droplets leaking from bloody meat can, indeed, transfer from one surface to another. And folded bags can create a moist environment that helps bacteria grow.
But if you start worrying about getting an ear infection from your shopping bag, you're being paranoid, said Harley Rotbart, a professor of microbiology and pediatric infectious diseases at the University of Colorado School of Medicine.
He called the study 'a classic middle school science fair experiment where swabs are taken to random surfaces and, shockingly, germs are found on those surfaces.'
The bottom line: 'Germs are everywhere, and under certain circumstances, germs on surfaces can cause human infections,' Rotbart said.
'Commonsense has to prevail. Disgusting re-usable bags should be washed in hot water (and bleach).'
Don't forget to wash your hands.
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