Ravenwood - 07/06/05 07:00 AM
At least it doesn't cause cancer.
Taking regular showers could pose a health risk and even result in permanent brain damage, it has been claimed.Scientists believe that breathing in small amounts of manganese dissolved in the water may harm the nervous system.
The damage may occur even at levels of the naturally occurring metal normally considered safe, say the US researchers.
Category: Oddities
Comments (5) top link me
At last! The excuse the hippies have been waiting for.
Posted by: robert in england at July 6, 2005 7:02 AMWhere was this study conducted? France?
Look, I'll take my chances with the shower, and I expect the rest of my fellow Americans to do the same. If we skip on the showers to save our health, we will more than likely die even earlier from the funky cloud of body filth that hovers around us.
Posted by: roger at July 6, 2005 8:56 AMOf course, I just noticed that you already attributed this to the French... Oh well, one can't make too many French jokes, right?
Posted by: roger at July 6, 2005 9:09 AMThe paper ("Neurotoxicity of inhaled manganese: Public health danger in the shower?" Elsner RJ, Spangler JG, Med Hypotheses. 2005 May 21) reviewed previously published studies on manganese in water. Not one study showed that water-based manganese caused brain damage in people. The authors based their hyperbole on a study of rats exposed to aerosolized water containing manganese. They then created a model for humans based on TEN YEARS of daily showers in manganese contaminated water and assumed substantial nasal inhalation. Most showers do not generate fine aerosols, so the model is probably off by orders of magnitude.
The only known brain damage due to manganese is among welders with high exposures to inhaled manganese vapor. This can cause damage similar to Parkinson's disease.
Huh?
Posted by: mikem at July 6, 2005 7:11 PM(c) Ravenwood and Associates, 1990 - 2014
