Chewing gum spots - High Streets - Local Councils failing us all.

[Jimbob63]

Has anyone else heard that those ugly white gum spots that seem to be proliferating everywhere on our High Streets and are never removed (Local council budget cuts?) - are actually a major health risk, especially for young children?
Someone told me they'd read an article that every splodge harbours 10million bacteria per gram.
I've been trying to find more info - here's as much as I could find - but apparently even treading on dry patches will bring bacteria whose names look scary into our homes. Thankfully my wife is Hindu and I've got used to not wearing shoes indoors but many friends seem oblivious to their toddlers crawling around where grown-ups shoes have been before. I won't go on but had to ask since I can't find this being discussed anywhere.

"The qPCR method, involving both dead and live bacteria yielded higher numbers of retrieved bacteria than plating, involving only viable bacteria. Numbers of trapped bacteria were maximal during initial chewing after which a slow decrease over time up to 10 min was observed. Around 108 bacteria were detected per gum piece depending on the method and gum considered. The number of species trapped in chewed gum increased with chewing time. Trapped bacteria were clearly visualized in chewed gum using scanning-electron-microscopy. Summarizing, using novel methods to quantify and qualify oral bacteria trapped in chewed gum, the hypothesis is confirmed that chewing of gum can trap and remove bacteria from the oral cavity."
journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0117191

Chewing gum on the streets has up to 10 million thriving bacteria per gram (Daily Telegraph - 28th October)


"We found bacteria on every sample, regardless of the temperature," Professor Kumada told the Mainichi newspaper. "We would expect bacteria to die on the street due to the ultraviolet light, but I presume the gum blocked the ultraviolet light out."


The smallest amount of bacteria recovered from a sample was around the 1 million per gram level, he said, adding that he was able to extract the bacteria after dissolving the gum in cooking oil.

[FissionChips]

You’re not serious are you?

[Jimbob63]

@FissionChips
You don't think there's anything to be worried about? It's just I've noticed a vast increase in white spots everywhere on pavements so when someone told me they are not harmless as you would imagine I quickly googled it & never imagined every spot is covered in bacteria - maybe treading on them will just squash the bacteria? So I am being mad to be worried? Please do tell me if you reckon I'm paranoid!

[Falconhoof1]

They are revolting, that's true, but I imagine pavements are covered in bacteria anyway. Your being paranoid.

[Falconhoof1]

You're

[Whwhywhy]

But the ground outside is covered in bacteria, dirt, cat pee, where dog owners have picked up poos, mouldy damp cracks in the pavement will be teeming with germs.

Maybe just take your shoes off if you are worried. As a species we have survived this long.

[LayerShortOfALasagne]

What about vomit dog shit spit blood etc

[picklemepopcorn]

Children are pretty hardy. Tragically, they die in accidents, of congenital abnormalities, of violence, and mainly of cancer.

They don't seem to die of chewing gumitus.

[picklemepopcorn]

In 2012 over 3,000 babies died before age one and over 2,000 children and young people died between the ages of one and nineteen
Over half of deaths in childhood occur during the first year of a child’s life, and are strongly influenced by pre-term delivery and low birth weight; with risk factors including maternal age, smoking and disadvantaged circumstances
Suicide remains a leading cause of death in young people in the UK, and the number of deaths due to intentional injuries and self-harm have not declined in 30 years
After the age of one, injury is the most frequent cause of death; over three quarters of deaths due to injury in the age bracket of 10-18 year olds are related to traffic incidents.