http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/05/140520100420.htm
At the annual meeting of the American Society for Microbiology, researchers reported their findings on harmful bacteria discovered in airplane cabins. Different types of bacteria were found lingering for days and even weeks in planes. Six materials were tested in a typical airplane setting to study bacterial survival: the armrest, plastic tray table, metal toilet button, seat pocket cloth, window shade, and leather. MRSA remained for 168 hours on the seat-back pocket, and a type of
E. coli lasted for 96 hours on the armrest. This information will hopefully assist with better ways to clean and disinfect these surfaces. More research will also be conducted to find out if the materials tested in this experiment contain any natural antibacterial characteristics.
*MRSA: methicillin-resistant
Staphylococcus aureus (a bacterium with antibiotic resistance)
NOS Themes:
Science is collaborative; Kiril Vaglenov presented these findings at the American Society for Microbiology meeting.
Science is based on evidence; the experiment provided solid, quantitative data.
Role of motivation and curiosity; this report may lead to other studies based on finding methods to prevent harmful bacteria from lingering in airplanes or other commonly used public places.
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ReplyDeleteI thought that this was very interesting because I travel by plane a lot! When doing more research I found that there is also a lot of bacteria in the water served on planes. The Environmental Protection Agency found that every 1 in 10 planes has bacteria in their drinking water. This was recently too, just under two years ago. The EPA now requires airlines to test for coliform and E. coli on every airplane at least once a year. To me, that does not seem like enough. I'll have to be more careful about what I drink on airplanes!
ReplyDeleteResearch: http://www.nbcdfw.com/investigations/EPA-Tests-Show-High-Percentage-of-Airplanes-Still-Have-Bacteria-in-Water-Served-On-Board-226813491.html
I to travel in planes a lot and I am not surprised that planes have this many harmful bacteria on it because whenever I have been on a plane, I have always noticed garbage on the floor, and it seems like the planes have not had a good cleaning in a long time. Because of this, I think that major plane companies (American Airlines, Delta Airlines, Southwest Airlines, etc.) should read this article so that they can keep their planes cleaner and healthier.
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