Your shower head is killing you

...or at least that's what a tweet from Slate told me last night while I was watching Gossip Girl. It linked to this article from BBC, which talks about how dirty shower heads might house dangerous bacteria that can get into your lungs and cause infection.

A similar article appeared in today's Gainesville Sun, for which the lede was, "In what may be the scariest shower news since Alfred Hitchcock's 'Psycho,' a study says shower heads can harbor tiny bacteria that come spraying into your face when you wash."

In your face!

Go ahead and laugh (I did), but it's no laughing matter for people with weak immune systems, like the elderly, AIDS patients and pregnant women. Studies and stories like this are good for the health industry, I guess, because they're attention-getters and they force people to think about their health and well-being. But at the same I wonder where we draw the line at what the public needs to know versus what's going to cause them unnecessary worry. Do I or anyone else really need to think about tiny microbes flying into my lungs every time I use my brand new ec0-friendly shower head?

Researchers from the University of Colorado who conducted the study suggested that people buy all-metal shower heads or replace filters (if you have a shower head with filters) often to prevent bacteria, but there's really nothing more people can do. Seems like the easiest thing would just be to not put your face directly into the oncoming water as soon as you turn your shower on, but maybe that's just me.