St. Paul, MN USA – Hotels need to properly clean their jetted tubs, dishwashers and washing machines from the effects of biofilm and the contaminants biofilm growth promotes in these appliances.
Hotels use and rely upon a battery of jetted tubs, dishwashers and washing machines to run their businesses. Mounting scientific evidence suggests that these appliances (and, more specifically, the improper design and/or cleaning of these appliances) are one of several primary hosts of contaminants that get and/or keep hotel patrons sick.
A whopping 80% of microbial infections in the human body are related to biofilm. Common infectious problems directly related to biofilm include: bacterial vaginosis, urinary tract infections, catheter infections, ear infections, dental plaque, gingivitis, coatings on contact lenses and eye infections and irritations, endocarditis, infections in cystic fibrosis, many chronic illnesses and the list goes on and on . . . .
The problem is rooted in the fact that these appliances hold stagnant water that allows dangerous bacteria to form. This would be bad enough, but the problem is more complex than most of us are willing to imagine. Bacteria are not the mindless cellular organisms we were taught they were back in high school 20 or 30 years ago. Recent scientific studies have proven that bacteria are highly organized and sophisticated. Bacteria are capable of organizing their communities, sharing resources such as air, water and food resources and communicating and cooperating in a variety of activities including the building of a microstructure called biofilm. Most hotels use commercial grade cleaners supposedly designed to kill planktonic or free floating bacteria. Unfortunately, bacteria housed or protected in biofilm are rendered completely unaffected by these same chemicals. Some hotels still use cleaning agents such as bleach, disinfectant cleaners, vinegar, etc. that can’t penetrate the outer layer of biofilm. AS a result, they can’t kill and/or remove the bacteria housed in biofilm.
In jetted tubs, for instance, there are upwards of an average of 20 feet of internal tubing in the average jetted tub that is filled with bacteria and biofilm. Absent a regimen designed to remove biofilm in these tubes, your furious efforts to keep your jetted tub properly cleaned have largely been in vain. Dishwashers are no different in that these appliances are notorious for harboring biofilm and bacteria and getting people sick. Is the hotel cleaning staff’s luck any different with their washing machine? Both top load and front load washing machines are full of mold, fungus, biofilm and bacteria. Your patron’s clothes are full of mold and bacteria after each wash. This can lead to skin irritation, ear infections, respiratory problems and other health-related issues. Biofilm is one of the leading causes of chronic illnesses. How many times have you washed a load of clothes and opened your washer to the smell of mold and mildew? How many times have you pulled freshly washed linens out of the washer only to discover that it has a new stain that it did not have prior to washing it? These are common occurrences for many hotel cleaning staff and represent anecdotal evidence of a much larger and more sinister problem: your hotel’s major appliances are simply not getting cleaned properly and your patrons are unnecessarily exposed to illness and sickness as a result.
Scientific evidence of such exposure is rooted in the following studies and federal court actions including: 1) A study by a Texas A&M University microbiologist shows that whirlpool bathtubs can literally be a breeding ground for dozens of types of bacteria, many of them potential pathogens, and such water can be a ground zero for infectious diseases. Microbiologist Dr. Rita B. Moyes tested 43 water samples from whirlpool bathtubs — both private and public ones — and found that all 43 had bacterial growth ranging from mild to red-level dangerous. A whopping 95 percent showed the presence of fecal derived bacteria, while 81 percent had fungi and 34 percent contained staphylococcus, which can cause deadly staph infections 2) A Cross Contamination in Dishwashers Study by Wernersson, Johansson and Hakanson in 2003 proves that mechanically unremoved dishwasher soil (adhered food matter) still contains bacteria largely unaffected by the temperature and/or cleaning agents used in the dishwashing process 3) This past July 30, 2015, a federal judge recently approved a major class action lawsuit against a prominent washing machine manufacturer alleging that the manufacturer produced washing machines that unnecessarily harbored mold and mildew affecting the customer’s ability to properly clean their clothing.
What conclusions can by derived from this mounting evidence? Bill Soukup, President of Scientific Biofilm Solutions in Maplewood, Minnesota, believes the writing is on the wall as it relates to bacteria, biofilm and the major appliances that populate most hotels. “These major appliances are simply not being either designed properly or cleaned properly (or both). Hotel patrons are getting sick as a result of this problem and until the scientific issues related to bacteria, biofilm and properly formulated cleaning agents are resolved, this problem will persist.”
Soukup’s company, Scientific Biofilm Solutions, is committed to studying bacteria, biofilm and the proper cleaning of major household appliances. The company already markets several products designed to address this problem and more products are in their final testing stages right now. “People need to understand that the common chemicals they have been using are not designed to address the complex issues related to bacteria and biofilm,” Soukup concludes. “More work needs to be done in this area; however, more people need to have a deeper understanding of the problem.”
Again, these appliances can be perfectly safe if cleaned properly with cleaners that don’t just kill biofilm and mold, but remove these contaminants.
For more information, Scientific Biofilm Solutions can be reached at: 1167 East Highway 36 Maplewood, MN 55109 (Office) 651-789-6921 (email) bill@scientificbiofilmsolutions.com (website) www.scientificbiofilmsolutions.com.
