Back
Showing 71-80 of 133 results

Answering That Age-old Lament: Where Does All This Dust Come From? (137)

November 11, 2009

Most indoor household dust that collects on furniture and floors actually comes from outdoors, a new study finds. Where does it come from? Scientists in Arizona are reporting a surprising answer to that question, which has puzzled and perplexed generations of men and women confronted …

Study Says: Improving Our Environment Can Improve Our Behavior (140)

October 27, 2009

The odor in a room is enough to elicit a stronger impulse towards fairness, researchers from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University have claimed. They believe their research proves there is a correlation between hygiene and decency and that by improving our environment …

Mobile Phones Contaminated with Nosocomial Pathogens? (142)

October 23, 2009

Abstract   BackgroundThe objective of this study was to determine the contamination rate of the healthcare workers’ (HCWs’) mobile phones and hands in operating room and ICU. Microorganisms from HCWs’ hands could be transferred to the surfaces of the mobile phones during their use.   …

Opportunistic Pathogens Enriched in Showerhead Biofilms (143)

September 29, 2009

Abstract   The environments we humans encounter daily are sources of exposure to diverse microbial communities, some of potential concern to human health. In this study, we used culture-independent technology to investigate the microbial composition of biofilms inside showerheads as ecological assemblages in the human …

Reduction of Clostridium Difficile and Vancomycin-Resistant Enterococcus Contamination of Environmental Surfaces After An Intervention to Improve Cleaning Methods (147)

September 7, 2009

Abstract   BackgroundContaminated environmental surfaces may play an important role in transmission of some healthcare-associated pathogens. In this study, we assessed the adequacy of cleaning practices in rooms of patients with Clostridium difficile-associated diarrhea (CDAD) and vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus (VRE) colonization or infection and examined whether …

Restroom Cleaning: Using Science in the Fight Against Design Flaws (148)

August 21, 2009

A basic guiding principle in understanding restroom cleaning is that almost all public restrooms have used designs and been constructed with methods and materials that embody flaws that work against easy removal of microbial contamination. These flaws include: non-mitered wall and floor intersections, walls that …

How to Select and Use a Particle Counter (149)

August 7, 2009

There are many types of particle counters dependent upon the depth of particle analysis required: To measure ultrafine particles (size in nanometer range) one may utilize a condensation nucleus particle counter. Ultrafine airborne particle smaller than 0.1µm (micron), which generally cannot be detected by ordinary …

Dust: A Metric for Use in Residential and Building Exposure Assessment and Source Characterization (151)

July 28, 2009

Abstract In this review, we examine house dust and residential soil and their use for identifying sources and quantifying levels of toxicants for the estimation of exposure. We answer critical questions that focus on the selection of samples or sampling strategies for collection and discuss …