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BATHROOM SPIES UNCOVER AMERICANS' DIRTY SECRET.


Byline: Associated Press

Millions of Americans routinely ignore one of Mom's most important pieces of advice: Wash your hands after you go to the bathroom.

This unsettling un·set·tle  
v. un·set·tled, un·set·tling, un·set·tles

v.tr.
1. To displace from a settled condition; disrupt.

2. To make uneasy; disturb.

v.intr.
 item of news was gathered in the only way possible - by actually watching what people do (or don't do) in public restrooms.

The researchers - if that's what they should be called - hid in stalls or pretended to comb their hair while observing 6,333 men and women do their business in five cities last month.

``Hand washing in this country has become all but a lost art,'' said Dr. Michael T. Osterholm, the Minnesota state epidemiologist.

Osterholm heads the public health committee of the American Society for Microbiology The American Society for Microbiology (ASM) is a scientific organization, based in the United States although with over 43,000 members throughout the world. It is the largest single life science professional organization and its members include those whose interests encompass basic , which sponsored the survey with Bayer Corp., the aspirin maker. The figures were gathered by Wirthlin Worldwide, a survey firm, and released Monday at the society's annual infectious-disease conference.

Among the results:

The country's dirtiest hands may be in New York City New York City: see New York, city.
New York City

City (pop., 2000: 8,008,278), southeastern New York, at the mouth of the Hudson River. The largest city in the U.S.
. Just 60 percent of those using restrooms in Penn Station washed up afterward.

Chicago hands, relatively speaking, are reasonably clean. The watchers saw 78 percent take the time to wash after using the bathroom at the Navy Pier.

Seventy-one percent washed up at a casino in New Orleans, 69 percent at Golden Gate Park This article is about the park in San Francisco. For the US National Recreation Area just north of there, see Golden Gate National Recreation Area.

Golden Gate Park, located in San Francisco, California, is a large urban park. At 1017 acres (4.1 km², 1.
 in San Francisco and 64 percent at a Braves game in Atlanta.

Women are cleaner than men. The survey found 74 percent wash after using the toilet, compared with 61 percent of men. Only in New York New York, state, United States
New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of
 and New Orleans did men use soap and water slightly more often than women.

The most slovenly slov·en·ly  
adj.
1. Untidy, as in dress or appearance.

2. Marked by negligence; slipshod. See Synonyms at sloppy.



slov
 men observed were at the Braves game. Just 46 percent of the guys stopped to wash, compared with 89 percent of female ball fans.
COPYRIGHT 1996 Daily News
No portion of this article can be reproduced without the express written permission from the copyright holder.
Copyright 1996, Gale Group. All rights reserved. Gale Group is a Thomson Corporation Company.

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Article Details
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Publication:Daily News (Los Angeles, CA)
Article Type:Statistical Data Included
Date:Sep 17, 1996
Words:289
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