Household goods made of fiber are shown to be the most ridden with bacteria, according to a study made public Tuesday by Prof. Cheon Jong-sik of the Department of Biotechnology at Seoul National University.

Cheon found evidence of a greater number of harmful microbes in fiber-made goods such as school uniforms, doormats, pillows and goods with fiber-made parts like dolls, baby strollers, backpacks and shoe soles, compared to goods such as cellphones and toilet seats. The study contained 90 samples, 10 for each of the nine products mentioned above.

The researcher discovered an average 5.4 CFU/cm2 in non-fiber-good samples, as opposed to 520 CFU/cm2 averaged from fibered-good samples, the latter showing roughly 96 times more pathogens than the former. Even from the partial-fiber samples, he found 170 CFU/cm2 on average, 31 times higher than those samples without fiber parts. CFU, or Colony Forming Unit, is used to measure the number of cultivated bacteria in tests and 1 CFU denotes a single strain of bacterium.

Cheon, along with his team, also underlined their finding of several dangerous pathogens, microbes that tend to infect the ill, the elderly, infants and others with compromised immunity levels.

In shoes, school uniforms and pillows, the researchers found Staphylococcus warneri, the pathogens that cause bacteremia, commonly known as blood poisoning. In pillows, backpacks, cellphones and baby strollers, they identified acne-producing Propionibacterium. In dolls, they discovered among seven opportunistic pathogens Nocardia nova, the bacteria for nocardiosis. Finally, in strollers and backpacks, they noted the presence of sepsis-inducing Streptococcus pseudopneumoniae along with three other pathogens.

Meanwhile, E. coli bacteria were spotted on and only on non-fiber samples such as cellphones and toilet seats.

“We must take caution with common household goods used by infants and other people with weaker immune systems,” said Cheon.

By Jay S. Kwaak (kwaak@heraldcorp.com)