It's something just about every woman carries with her. While we may know
what's inside our purses, do you have any idea what's on the outside? Shauna
Lake put purses to the test - for bacteria - with surprising results. You may
think twice about where you put your purse in the future.
Women carry purses everywhere, from the office to public restrooms to the
floor of the car. Most women won't be caught without their purses, but did
you
ever stop to think about where your purse goes during the day?
"I drive a school bus, so my purse has been on the floor of the bus a
lot," says one woman. "On the floor of my car, in restrooms."
"I put my purse in grocery shopping carts, on the floor of bathroom stalls
while changing a diaper," says another woman. "And of course in my home -
which should be clean."
We decided to find out if purses harbor a lot of bacteria. We learned how
to test t hem at Nelson Laboratories in Salt Lake, then we set out to test
the average woman's purse. Most women told us they didn't stop to think about
what was on the bottom of their purse. Most said they usually set their purses on
topof kitchen tables and counters where food is prepared.
Most of the ladies we talked to told us they wouldn't be surprised if
their purses were at least a little bit dirty. It turns out purses are so
surprisingly dirty, even the microbiologist who tested them was shocked.
Microbiologist Amy Karren of Nelson Labs says nearly all the purses tested
were not only high in bacteria, but high in harmful kinds of bacteria.
Pseudomonas can cause eye infections, staphylococcus aurous can cause
serious skin infections, and salmonella and e-coli found on the purses could
make people very sick. In one sampling, four of five purses tested positive
for salmonella, and that's not the worst of it.
"There was fecal contamination on the purses," says Amy. (You know... poop?)
Leather or vinyl purses tended to be cleaner than cloth purses, and
lifestyle seemed to play a role. People with kids tended to have dirtier
purses than those without, with one exception. The purse of one single woman who
frequented nightclubs had one of the worst contaminations of all. "Some type
of feces, or even possibly vomit or something like that," says Amy.
So the moral of this story - your purse won't kill you, but it does has
the potential to make you very sick if you keep it on places where you eat.
Use hooks to hang your purse at home and in restrooms, and don't put it on your
desk, on a restaurant table, or on your kitchen countertop.
Experts say you should think of your purse the same way you would a pair
of shoes. "Would you consider putting a pair of shoes onto your countertops?
Well that's the same thing you're doing when you put your purse on the
countertops," says Amy.
The microbiologists at Nelson also said cleaning a purse will help. Wash
cloth purses and use leather cleaner to clean the bottom of leather purses.
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The 50th Celebration was one most will never forget. I know for our country bumpkin family it was quite an experience going to the "City" much less being a part of a huge celebration like we experienced with over 10,000 distributors. One presentation that really inspired me was Roger Barnett's the CEO of "Barefoot Secret Company"
