CHARLES P. GERBA¹*, LAURA Y. SIFUENTES¹, SHERI MAXWELL¹, TSUDASA SAKURADA²
1. University of Arizona, Dept. of Soil, Water and Environment Science, Tucson, AZ 85721, USA
2. Shinshu Ceramics Co., Ltd., Kiso, 399-55012, Japan
*Corresponding author

Abstract

Shared fabrics may be a source of pathogenic microorganisms that can be transmitted among individuals. Cotton towels used for hand drying become heavily contaminated with enteric bacteria, such as Escherichia coli, during household use. Incorporation of a titanium dioxide/silver/hydroxyapatite containing formulation (Earthplus™) was shown to be effective both in the laboratory and households in controlling the growth of gram negative bacteria in cotton towels.

INTRODUCTION
Cotton fabric towels are used in households primarily in the kitchen and bath rooms. Bath towels are usually in two sizes in the bathroom, large bath towels used for drying the body after showering or bathing and smaller towels used for drying the hands or face after washing. Because they may be used multiple times before washing among different individuals the potential exists for the transmission of infectious diseases among users. In a study of 200 homes in the United Kingdom, Scott et al. (1) reported the occurrence of coliform bacteria and E. coli in both kitchen and bathroom towels, but their sampling was limited to the surface of the towel the size of a Rodac plate (an agar plate designed for surface sampling), and excluded bacteria present within the towel. Gerba (2) also reported the occurrence of coliform bacteria in large bath towels collected from households in the United States.
Bathroom hand towels have been known or suspected of being involved in the transmission of infectious diseases in households. Sharing of towels has been shown to be associated with an increased risk of blood borne hepatitis B virus (3). Sharing o ...