There is a story out today about how shower heads can deliver a face full of dangerous pathogens. According to the story “researchers” analyzed 50 shower heads and found 30 percent “harbored significant levels of a pathogen linked to lung disease called mycobacterium avium.” (I heard this and wondered how many other people heard that story on the morning news today and took a bath.)
So I started looking for other shower dangers: according to “an environmental group”, a June 2008 “study” claims that some vinyl shower curtains may release into the air toxic chemicals which could cause asthma, eye irritation or even cancer.
Oh the humanity (sarcasm)
This reminded me of my earlier article about Dishwasher Risk: we assess relatively low risks as really, really high based on emotion, often without the right data. So, it is not to say that these shower dangers are not high risks only the story failed to include any meaningful data or any relative data. For example, I submit there may be a greater likelihood of people slipping and falling in a bath tub than from pretend germs in the shower head. And the impact of that risk is probably worse too!
Here’s Riskczar’s take away: assess your risks carefully in the context of all your other risks before you jump to any conclusions and invest any time and resources in unnecessary risk treatments.