Your ring? It is a den of bacteria. Your earrings? They are a danger. Not to mention the watch … Est1897 is a British brand that retails jewelery and watches that come from the main UK pawnbrokers. But, in addition to this, Est 1897 also offers news and analysis on the world of jewelry. Among these, there is an alarming one: Est1897, in fact, conducted a study to find out how much your jewelry can carry bacteria. It was a serious study looking at how many bacteria grew after just one week of use. Result: 23,000 bacteria were identified. They are largely not too harmful bacteria. But among these there is also the dangerous Staphylococcus Aureus, which is resistant to methicillin (an antibiotic), or fungi that can cause oral candidiasis. In short, we need to take the topic seriously.
Again according to the survey by Est1897, the dangers are greater considering that, on average, a person touches his face 16 times per hour. And that every day the hands are in contact with a myriad of objects literally covered with bacteria. The analysis, therefore, used gels for the culture of bacteria at room temperature for over 74 hours and a sterile technique to measure the result. And, as mentioned, while most bacteria aren’t particularly dangerous, jewelry is also home to micro organisms that can be very harmful. On the rings, for example, five different types of bacteria and 504 bacterial colonies were found that grew after a week of using the ring. And this after only seven days.
In the rings, for example, a colony of penicillin-resistant staph bacteria has been identified, which can cause infections in different parts of the body. Or corynebacterium diphtheriae, bacteria that produce poisonous toxins, which can cause diphtheria, have been detected, with difficulty in breathing, heart failure, paralysis and, in some cases, even death. Another danger comes from micrococcus, which could cause pneumonia, septic arthritis, peritonitis, meningitis, and more. In addition to Staphylococcus, Corynebacterium, and Micrococcus, the rings also showed traces of black fungus and mold, which can cause dry, flaky skin and rashes.
In addition to the rings, the experiment included an analysis on watches (identified four different types of bacteria and 20,000 colonies grown in a week) and earrings (four different types of bacteria and 485 bacterial colonies after one week). The earrings, in particular, also had Bacillus, a diverse group of bacteria which, for example, causes food poisoning if ingested. Just fiddle with the earrings and then grab a cookie and, voila, the bacteria come right into your mouth. The conclusion of the experiment is obvious: in order to avoid any dangers, you need to wash the jewels often and adequately.
