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Bathroom Hygeine Inquiry? Oct 25, 1997 I am trying to develop my teaching to the point where my students are working on real problems and learning Biology content and skills and how to improve their world in the process. So far, I've been drawn to issues of environmental justice (i.e. issues of chemical poisonings of our neighborhoods). However, just yesterday a student raised an issue of concern to many: there is usually no soap or warm water and often no toilet paper in our student bathrooms. This is obviously a public health issue. Does anyone have any suggestions for: 1) where I can find data on the health implications of unsanitary conditions; 2) whether there are any ways to quanitify unsanitary condiations (e.g. counts of E. coli on the sink?); 3) how we could start such a project and who could help us? I would greatly appreciate any suggestions. I've told one student that I would see what I could find out this weekend. Thank you! Marc Borbely Oct. 26, 1997 Marc, This sounds like a good topic for inquiry. Here are some suggestions. The Alameda County Health Department would be one place to go. Another would be the School of Public Health at UC Berkeley. This is a progressive department, and you might find a grad student willing to work with you. As far as quantifying unsanitary conditions, you could certainly establish the presence of bacteria using some culture plates, and swabbing various locations, including the students' hands. The mere presence of bacteria does not, in my opinion, constitute a real health hazard. Unless people have weak immune systems, their bodies can handle bacteria, unless it is in high doses. The real danger is from bacteria that has a chance to grow on food -- that is why food workers need to be especially careful. So you might get a misleading result from just "finding" bacteria. Just because bacteria is there, doesn't mean it is a health hazard. Warm water is not likely to have any effect, since it isn't going to be hot enough to kill bacteria. I have heard interviews with epidemiologists who say just washing your hands in water, without even any soap, is good enough to get rid of most germs. But the health experts would be the best source on this. This is kind of a loaded topic. I think the subtext is that the students feel disrespected because their basic needs are not being attended to. I know that at Berkeley High the condition of the bathrooms has been a HUGE issue. Part of the problem is that a few students sneak in and destroy all the supplies when they are placed there. I am not sure how they have addressed this at BHS, but I know it has been a really big focus of students, parents and administrators for the past few years. It occurs to me that this issue is a window onto the social functioning of the whole school. So your inquiry into the growth of bacteria might lead you into an ecological study of another sort: School as ecosystem. Anthony Oct. 27, 1997 Anthony! Thanks for your comments and ideas. I agree with you that simply determining the presence of various bacteria in bathrooms won't say much at all. However, there MAY be some maximum number that are allowed to be present. Following your lead, I called a Biology teacher at Berkeley High and asked her about their bathroom situation. Among other things, she suggested contacting OSHA to get their guidelines and use them to help pressure the district to maintain the bathrooms. She mentioned the same thing you did, that part of the problem is students' messing things up for everyone else. However, she pointed out that once the school got around to cleaning its bathrooms, it had a very positive effect on even the grafittiers, apparently, because there ended up being far fewer problems with the clean bathrooms than there had been when they were dirty. Right now, a few students of mine are going to start documenting the problem (what's missing, and when); they're also conducting a survey to assess the perception of the problem among the student body. I had a great day today: Dana Lanza from the Green City Project was in my class. She helped us begin maps of our neighborhoods. They'll include factories, schools, liquor stores - EVERYTHING. I'm so excited about the possibilities! I hope you're well! Marc Borbely