Sarah Haig, an Assistant Professor on the College of Pittsburgh, has acquired a $420,000 grant from the NSF to steer a three-year research evaluating totally different showerhead options and their influence on concentrations of harmful micro organism, often known as DWPIs, in bathe water and its aerosols. These micro organism can pose severe well being dangers, particularly to people with weakened immune techniques, and are notably robust to kill, surviving in plumbing techniques regardless of water therapy processes.

Stepping right into a bathe, we regularly search the comforting embrace of heat water after a taxing day — however there could also be one thing harmful lurking within the showerhead.

Whereas most micro organism present in showers are benign, sure ones, known as ingesting water-associated pathogens of the immunocompromised  (DWPIs) – can pose a severe threat to our well being, particularly for people with weakened immune techniques.

Sarah Haig, Assistant Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering on the College of Pittsburgh Swanson Faculty of Engineering, acquired $420,000 from the Nationwide Science Basis (NSF) to steer a three-year research to check totally different showerhead options to match concentrations of DWPIs current in bathe water and the aerosols it produces.

“There are a lot of kinds of showerheads available on the market, leaving shoppers to make selections on the kind of spray sample, materials, circulation charge, and components like bacteria-killing chemical compounds they need,” Haig defined. “However, it’s unknown how these selections influence the chance of DWPIs publicity.”

On this bathe, it’s not Norman Bates you have to fear about

DWPIs are a excessive price not simply to our well being, however to the US economic system, costing $2.93 billion yearly.

They’re additionally extremely laborious to kill. Regardless of the wide selection of bodily and chemical processes used to deal with ingesting water, DWPIs can survive and proceed to develop and thrive in plumbing techniques.

Though there are numerous DWPIs of concern, Legionella pneumophila, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and nontuberculous mycobacteria (NTM) trigger probably the most respiratory infections. Nonetheless, as NTM causes 57 % of all US waterborne illness deaths, it is going to be the first focus for Haig and her group.

“The objective for these of us who work in public well being and prevention is to have methods to restrict publicity to those micro organism both bodily or chemically in order that we management the publicity and thereby management the chance of sickness,” mentioned Janet Stout, a frequent collaborator of Haig’s and govt vice chairman and founding father of the Particular Pathogens Laboratory. “Professor Haig’s analysis in testing these supplies is aligning with these objectives.”

Publicity to DWPIs can come from quite a lot of sources, however inhalation of water-associated aerosols are mostly associated to an infection. Nonetheless, DWPI aerosolization and their relationship to showerhead options are poorly understood.

To bridge this data hole, Haig and her group will take a look at showerheads with totally different options and examine the focus of DWPIs current in bathe water and bathe water-produced aerosols.

Dr. Janet Lee, Chief, division of pulmonary and demanding care drugs, Selma and Herman Seldin Distinguished Professor in Drugs, professor of pathology and immunology at Washington College in St. Louis and co-principal investigator of this venture, mentioned this venture will carry helpful insights for society to attenuate its threat of DWPI publicity.

“This information will empower people to pick showerheads that prioritize their well being whereas enhancing our general understanding of how our selections within the constructed setting influence our well-being,” Lee mentioned.

Haig leads Pitt’s Investigating Dwelling Water and Aerosols’ Hyperlinks to Opportunistic Pathogen Publicity (INHALE) Lab. The 250-square-foot lab, which has 3 full-size bathe cubicles every equipped by its personal water heaters, can be utilized on this venture.

The research was funded by the Nationwide Science Basis.