Hazardous holy water!

By CARRIE FERGUSON
The Tennessean

Knickknacks: You could trip on a gnome, or that snowdome collection could fall on you.

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Desk germs: Your office desktop is 400 times dirtier than a toilet seat. The average desk has 21,000 bacteria per square inch, or 8,400 per square centimeter, while the average toilet seat has only 50. That's because we don't clean our desks well, or at all, and we do scrub toilet seats. Or at least most of us do. Gross, yes. Dangerous, probably not. These bacteria don't cause colds and flu.

Dishwashers: Each year, more than 7,000 Americans and 1,300 British citizens are harmed by dishwashers. They reach in and grab an item and they are cut, or they open the door and are burned. The worst include people who have slipped and fallen into an open dishwasher and impaled themselves with knives in the silverware rack.

	High heels: You could fall off of them, or stomp someone with the force of an elephant.

High heels: According to the National Floor Safety Institute, which studies slip-and-fall accidents, about 2 million Americans are admitted to hospitals because of falls. Forty percent of those are caused by footwear, and of those about 400,000, are from falls attributed to high heels. It isn't just the fashion victim in stilettos who can be injured; bystanders are injured, too. A 120-pound woman wearing heels on a dance floor can pound her heel into someone else's foot with the force of an elephant.

Holy water: In 1998, student researchers in Ireland found that holy water from local churches contained coliforms, staphylococcis, yeasts and molds. Another student study found green worms and worm eggs in font water. Some churches in Dublin also removed holy water fonts after they found drug addicts were using them to rinse out their syringes.

Knickknacks: Warning, that snow dome from Lake Tahoe can maim. An estimated 15,000 people are injured each year by knickknacks, vases and urns. The problem: You reach to dust it and everything comes crashing down. Lee's suggestion: Get rid of it all and go minimalist.

Suburban living: If you think you're safe in that gated community, think again. According to a University of Virginia study, you are more at risk of being killed by an SUV than someone living in the city is at risk of being mugged in an alley. Plus, suburbanites are fatter. A 2003 study in the American Journal of Public Health showed that people in large developments weigh an average of six pounds more than people in "compact" communities.

Teddy bears: Stuffed bears are much more dangerous than grizzly bears. Eighty-two Americans were killed by bears between 1906 and 1995, while 140,000 injuries and at least 22 deaths a year are attributed to toys. Most of us know that buttons, eyes, bows and belts on stuffed animals are potential choking hazards, but it seems tripping over bears is the real danger. Notes from accidents: "Fell going down stairs, stepping over a stuffed animal, fell into banister. Lumbar strain" and "Fell over stuffed animal at home, striking forehead against coffee table, contusion face."

There's more. Teddy bears spread disease. Christchurch School of Medicine in New Zealand found "stuffed toys in doctors' offices had moderate to heavy bacterial contamination. Some toys carried lice, scabies, herpes viruses and germs that can cause conjunctivitis."

Teddies in day-care centers and libraries were similarly contaminated. (Makes that sentimental teddy from the 1985 state fair look murderous, doesn't it?)

The weekend: Workers, typically out of shape, do too much during the weekend and get hurt. Even old and rickety dogs get injured more on the weekends, when their masters have time for them. A Japanese study says women are more likely to have heart attacks on weekends, and a Dutch study identified "leisure sickness," meaning that people get sick on weekends because they finally have time to be sick.

Copyright © 2004 The Seattle Times Company

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