WEBVTT - BrainStuff Classics: Can Used Books Spread Germs?

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to Brainstuff, a production of iHeartRadio. Hey brain Stuff,

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<v Speaker 1>Lauren Vogel Bomb here with another classic episode from our archives,

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<v Speaker 1>especially since the COVID pandemic. We live in a very

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<v Speaker 1>germ conscious world, but it turns out that we don't

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<v Speaker 1>have to worry about sharing books. The only peril in

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<v Speaker 1>them is to their characters. Hey brain Stuff, Lauren vogel

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<v Speaker 1>Bomb here. You remember books, words printed on paper, bound

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<v Speaker 1>between two covers. When Gutenberg introduced the printing press in

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<v Speaker 1>fourteen fifty, books became objects of extraordinary wonder that would

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<v Speaker 1>change the world. Throughout the centuries, These fascinating, tactile objects

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<v Speaker 1>educated and amused, instructed and advised, and curled up with

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<v Speaker 1>us on rainy nights, sparking our imaginations. In eighteenth century America,

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<v Speaker 1>lending libraries became egalitarian sanctuaries of knowledge, where farmers and

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<v Speaker 1>financiers alike could access for free all the mysteries of

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<v Speaker 1>the world. But in our current virtual, ephemeral, device driven culture,

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<v Speaker 1>books have become marginalized clutter. Sometimes casually thrown away. Books,

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<v Speaker 1>just like the rest of us, can end up in

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<v Speaker 1>some truly grungy places. In some cases, Bona fide treasures

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<v Speaker 1>have literally been tossed into garbage bins and kicked to

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<v Speaker 1>the curb a couple of cases in Point in Vancouver,

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<v Speaker 1>British Columbia. In twenty seventeen, a homeless man salvaged four

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<v Speaker 1>rough condition eighteen seventies Moroccan leather books from an alleyway

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<v Speaker 1>trash heap. Turns out, the four volumes, titled The Far East,

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<v Speaker 1>consists of twenty four issues of a rare English language

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<v Speaker 1>news magazine published in Shanghai, China, between eighteen seventy and

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<v Speaker 1>eighteen seventy eight. Back in two thousand and nine, Suthebee's

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<v Speaker 1>in London auctioned one hundred and eighteen issues of the

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<v Speaker 1>same periodical, with one hundred and twelve original album in prints,

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<v Speaker 1>the largest collection to surface on the market in thirty years,

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<v Speaker 1>for over forty two thousand dollars. Don Stewart, a veteran

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<v Speaker 1>bookseller and the owner of renowned mclloyd's Books in downtown Vancouver,

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<v Speaker 1>who who purchased the volumes for an undisclosed amount, said

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<v Speaker 1>it's the best thing ever to come out of the

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<v Speaker 1>garbage that I've ever encountered. And then in Ankara, Turkey,

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<v Speaker 1>over a period of time, sanitation workers in the Turkish

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<v Speaker 1>capital collected thousands of discarded books while making their garbage pickups.

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<v Speaker 1>Instead of abandoning them to landfills, these thoughtful, curious stewards

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<v Speaker 1>of knowledge rescued the books and compiled a library that

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<v Speaker 1>now houses six thousand volumes in every imaginable genre. Originally,

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<v Speaker 1>the library was set up only for the sanitation workers

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<v Speaker 1>and their families, but as words spread, people began to

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<v Speaker 1>donate cast off books, and the library opened to the

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<v Speaker 1>public in September of twenty seventeen. Now a vital part

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<v Speaker 1>of the community, the library is located in an old

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<v Speaker 1>brick building at the headquarters of the city's sanitation department.

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<v Speaker 1>The collection of salvaged volumes has grown so large that

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<v Speaker 1>the library now loans books to schools, various educational programs,

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<v Speaker 1>and prisons. These books, like any used books, may carry

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<v Speaker 1>the stains and abrasions of their former experiences, including generations

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<v Speaker 1>of people handling them. But as much as books may

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<v Speaker 1>impact us, how much of an impact do we leave

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<v Speaker 1>on books. Let's skip over to Los Angeles in twenty seventeen.

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<v Speaker 1>Sick at home with the flu Chyanne dabert A sixteen

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<v Speaker 1>year old high school sophomore wondered if she was getting

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<v Speaker 1>contagious germs all over the library books she was reading,

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<v Speaker 1>and then began to wonder if library books in general

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<v Speaker 1>might be potential carriers of infectious disease. So she created

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<v Speaker 1>an award winning international Science Fair project to find out.

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<v Speaker 1>With the help of local librarians, she chose popular books

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<v Speaker 1>that were checked out often and rubbed methodically taken swabs

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<v Speaker 1>from each book onto four Petrie dishes per book. Two

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<v Speaker 1>of the dishes contained agar, a substance that bacteria thrive upon,

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<v Speaker 1>and two of the dishes contained methylene blue, a chemical

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<v Speaker 1>that thwarts the growth of certain bacteria while enabling others. Next,

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<v Speaker 1>she put the plates in an oven at body temperature

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<v Speaker 1>to find out how many microbial colonies were present and

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<v Speaker 1>guess what, fearless library cardholders. Not much bacteria was present

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<v Speaker 1>on the books she tested, and none of the swabs

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<v Speaker 1>exhibited E. Coli. With that in mind, say hello to formites.

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<v Speaker 1>A formite is any non living object or substance capable

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<v Speaker 1>of carrying infectious organisms, such as viruses or bacteria, and

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<v Speaker 1>transferring them from one individual to another. We spoke via

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<v Speaker 1>email with Jesset Jacob, MD, an Associate professor of medicine

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<v Speaker 1>and hospital epidemiologist at Emory University Hospital Midtown. He said

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<v Speaker 1>that books and e readers can be considered formites, but

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<v Speaker 1>quote the infection risk is very low. Asked if it's

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<v Speaker 1>possible to get sick from touching a library book, for example,

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<v Speaker 1>someone with the flu licked their finger to turn the pages,

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<v Speaker 1>or sneezed or coughed on the book, Jacob said it's possible,

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<v Speaker 1>but unlikely. Influenza can survive on paper and cloth for

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<v Speaker 1>less than twelve hours. It's usually the respiratory secretions that

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<v Speaker 1>carry the highest burden virus, and it would not be

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<v Speaker 1>expected on spit, so licking a finger and turning a

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<v Speaker 1>page is less likely contagious than picking your nose and

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<v Speaker 1>then turning the page. Important safety tip, Jacob continued. Most

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<v Speaker 1>respiratory viruses are transmitted by indirect contact, such as when

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<v Speaker 1>a person touches an object think doorknobs and handles that

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<v Speaker 1>has been contaminated and then inadvertently touches a mucous membrane

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<v Speaker 1>such as the lining of the eyes, nose, and mouth.

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<v Speaker 1>While bacteria can potentially be spread by books or tablets

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<v Speaker 1>in most people, it will not cause infection. Asked what

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<v Speaker 1>kind of bacteria and viruses have the strongest survivability on paper,

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<v Speaker 1>Jacob said gram positive bacteria such as strep and staff

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<v Speaker 1>are better at persisting on surfaces in general, followed by viruses.

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<v Speaker 1>Jacob suggests that because so many people are allergic to

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<v Speaker 1>dust and mold, those are probably bigger problems than bacteria

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<v Speaker 1>or viruses on books. He left us with this sage

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<v Speaker 1>advice good for shared books and any other objects. Clean

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<v Speaker 1>your hands and avoid touching your face or mucous membranes

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<v Speaker 1>with potentially contaminated fingers to avoid catching a virus. So,

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<v Speaker 1>if you perchance regret tossing that once cherished, dog eared,

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<v Speaker 1>pizza stained copy of whatever it was that first ignited

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<v Speaker 1>your passions or awakened your sensibilities, but why not revisit

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<v Speaker 1>another well loved copy by checking it out at your

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<v Speaker 1>local library. According to Jacob, the odds of it making

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<v Speaker 1>you sick are quote very low, but with a pine,

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<v Speaker 1>the odds of it making you happy are very very high.

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<v Speaker 1>Today's episode is based on the article used books may

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<v Speaker 1>be jermy, but they won't make you sick. On how

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<v Speaker 1>stuffworks dot com, written by Kerry Tatrow. Brainstuff is production

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<v Speaker 1>of iHeartRadio in partnership with how Stuffworks dot Com, and

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<v Speaker 1>this episode was produced by Tristan McNeil and Tyler Klang.

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<v Speaker 1>Four more podcasts from my heart Radio visit the iHeartRadio app,

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<v Speaker 1>Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.