The set of practices perceived by a community to be associated with the preservation of health and healthy living.
Questions tagged [hygiene]
90 questions
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Does a lack of hand-washing by health-care workers cause 100,000 deaths per year in the USA?
Tweet by PostSecret, with 203 retweets and 85 favorites:
100,000 deaths in the US alone could be avoided each year if health
care workers washed their hands more, according to the CDC.
Do 100,000 deaths in the US occur per year which could be…
Andrew Grimm
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Are there airborne poop particles flying around bathrooms?
I've heard claims of airborne poop particles that fly into the air everytime one flushes a toilet. Here's some examples:
HERE someone states that flushing the toilet "aerosolizes" water/poop into the air
HERE is another article referencing such…
Hendy
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Are toilet seats extremely unhygienic?
We've already seen a few questions about toilet hygiene but these styles of questions/myths more or less assume that toilet seats are the bottom of the hygienic barrel. Is this true?
To wit, I have personally heard the following places and objects…
MrHen
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Is it more hygenic to keep the lid down on the toilet after use?
I remember a bit of folklore that suggested it was more hygienic to put the lid (that's the lid on the seat) down after use. Is this the case?
Phil C
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Is washing your body too often bad for your skin?
This is not a question about washing your hair. It's about taking a shower too often - i.e. several times a day.
I remember I read somewhere that, in this case, your skin lost good bacteria that could be useful for health of your skin.
Now I can't…
Alexan
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Does living clean weaken ones immune system?
In many places I have heard that living too clean weakens your immune system. For example, a Daily Mail article says:
Evidence is growing that dirt and germs can protect against disease - and that our indoor-based, ultra-clean lifestyles are bad…
Tanmoy
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Is it possible to crush bacteria?
For example by stepping on, stabbing with tiny needles or by pushing hard with thumb on a specific spot, etc? Can bacteria die in a car crash? Or as a result of playing football? Another situation might be bacteria sitting on the surface of drums…
rluks
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Do stainless-steel soap bars work to wash hands?
There are stainless steel soap products for washing hands.
For example, Blomus Stainless Steel Soap:
Simply rub on hands under running water to neutralize odors [...] Negatively-charged stainless steel soap combines with positive charge of cool…
Aequitas
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Was Ignaz Semmelweis ignored by the medical community when he advocated hand washing?
Daniel Engber writes in Who Will Debunk The Debunkers?:
Ignaz Semmelweis, the Hungarian physician who noticed in the 1840s that doctors were themselves the source of childbed fever in his hospital’s obstetric ward? Semmelweis had reduced disease…
Christian
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Is aluminum in pans, soda cans and antiperspirants correlated to Alzheimer's?
I have not only heard the soda can theory since I was a kid, but more recently when researching the topic I have found many websites that claim pans made of aluminum and antiperspirants are correlated to Alzheimer's.
Mercola.com is one such website…
Eric Bishard
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Does alcohol-free "essential oil" mouthwash kill bacteria in your mouth?
Case in point:
No other alcohol-free mouthwash has been proven more effective at
killing bad breath germs. Contains signature 4 Essential Oils found in
LISTERINE® Antiseptic for bad breath protection.
How many germs can it possibly kill with…
Max
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Does the miswak help with digestion, eyesight, headache, memory or illness?
The miswak is a traditional Middle-Eastern toothbrush (so to speak) make from a twig of a particular branch, that is claimed to be especially effective. The dental efficacy has been studied, but frankly isn't very interesting - it is, essentially,…
Marc Gravell
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Is it good to be germaphobic?
I have a friend (the same guy that believes calcium in water is bad for you) who is germaphobic. That is, he will avoid germs at any expense. For example, kitchen surfaces will be pristine, using some kind of brand name anti-bacterial cleaner. The…
Thomas O
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Can urine aerosols reach my toothbrush if I pee standing up?
My girlfriend insisted that I should sit down in the future after reading this tip (German) for easier cleaning:
When standing, the stream sprays up to 3.50 m far, as measured from a drop height of about 77 cm. This means, even toothbrushes are in…
Sven
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Do I have to brush my teeth at least 3 minutes each time?
There are various claims about how long a tooth brushing session should last for proper dental hygiene. I have heard that 3 minutes is the time and that my tooth brushing sessions should be consecrated to that.
Colgate says:
Proper brushing takes…
Jose Luis
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