Both hospital and residential sinks are breeding grounds for pathogens capable of causing illnesses including pneumonia<\/a>, wound infections<\/a>, and Legionnaires\u2019 disease<\/a>, a severe type of pneumonia stemming from Legionella<\/em> bacteria, according to researchers at Flinders University in South Australia. Their findings were published this summer in the journal Science of the Total Environment<\/em><\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cThis research shows that hand basins may be playing a significant and underestimated role in health care-associated infections (HAIs),\u201d Harriet Whiley, PhD<\/a>, an associate professor of environmental health in Flinders\u2019 College of Science and Engineering<\/a>, said in a news release<\/a> about her team\u2019s research.<\/p>\n On top of that, residential sinks showed not only a higher number of Legionella<\/em> bacteria compared to hospital sinks, but also a more diverse bacterial community, Whiley said.<\/p>\n The slimy substance that builds up on sink drains, bowl edges, and faucet bases is far from harmless gunk. It\u2019s a fine layer of bacteria called biofilm, which can pose a public health risk. Handwashing sinks are a recognized source of HAIs, which globally impact 7% of high-income and 15% of low- and middle-income hospital patients, according to the World Health Organization<\/a>. In this study, researchers sought to explore the bacterial diversity of sink biofilm in homes and hospitals.<\/p>\n The team analyzed 40 biofilm samples that had been \u201copportunistically\u201d collected from the faucets and drains of nine hospital sinks in New South Wales and eleven residential sinks in South Australia. Researchers collected the residential samples from bathroom sinks and hospital samples from patient ensuite bathrooms, communal hallway sinks, and a staff room sink.<\/p>\n In addition to Legionella,<\/em> they found more than a dozen potentially pathogenic bacteria including Staphylococcus<\/em><\/a>,<\/em> which causes staph infections, and Vibrio,<\/em> the culprit behind cholera<\/a> (Vibrio cholerae<\/em>) and rare flesh-eating infections<\/a> (Vibrio vulnificus<\/em>). Some of the identified bacteria aren\u2019t typically found in water. Residential sinks had significantly higher relative abundances of seven kinds of potentially pathogenic or corrosive bacteria.<\/p>\n \u201cThis poses a risk to patients receiving health care in the home, which has been emerging as an alternative to extensive inpatient hospital stays<\/a> to reduce the burden on the health care system,\u201d lead researcher and doctoral candidate Claire Hayward<\/a> said in the news release.<\/p>\n Hospitals have infection control practices in place that include the routine cleaning of sinks. Patients receiving residential health care need to be informed of how they can adequately disinfect sinks at home, Hayward said.<\/p>\n The harboring of dangerous microbes in sink biofilms could increase the rise of antimicrobial resistance<\/a>, she added.<\/p>\n Sean Justice\u2014Getty Images<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Assuming you wash your hands before each meal and after each bathroom break\u2014not to mention food preparation and teeth brushing\u2014the kitchen and bathroom sinks in your home take a beating, bacterially speaking. Thoroughly washing such hard surfaces in your home is a three-step process that should always occur in the following order, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention<\/a>:<\/p>\n For more on bacteria:<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n Subscribe to Well Adjusted, our newsletter full of simple strategies to work smarter and live better, from the Fortune Well team. <\/span>Sign up<\/span><\/a> for free today.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n![\"Assuming](\"https:\/\/fortune.com\/img-assets\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/GettyImages-sb10066543n-001-e1725557061450.jpg?w=1440&q=75\"\/)
How to clean, sanitize, and disinfect household sinks<\/h2>\n
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