Dangers ‘lurking in your shower head’

Scientists in America have warned that a daily shower can deliver a “face full of potentially pathogenic bacteria”.

Researchers from the University of Colorado at Boulder found that 30 per cent of the shower heads they investigated harboured significant levels of Mycobacterium avium, a pathogen linked to pulmonary disease.

CU-Boulder professor Norman Pace, who led the study, said: “Researchers found that some M avium and related pathogens were clumped together in slimy biofilms that clung to the inside of shower heads at more than 100 times the background levels of municipal water.”

The researchers said pulmonary disease symptoms include tiredness, a persistent, dry cough, shortness of breath, weakness and “generally feeling bad”.

A 2006 therapy pool study led by Pace and CU-Boulder professor Mark Hernandez showed high levels of M avium in indoor pool environments were linked to a pneumonia-like pulmonary condition in pool attendants known as “lifeguard lung”.

“There are lessons to be learned here in terms of how we handle and monitor water,” concluded Mr Pace.