Knowledge section
8 Facts About Washing Hands That You Don't Want To Ignore
How many times should I wash my hands in a day? Is there a proper way to do it? Should I use soap, or would water suffice? If these questions seem to pop up in your mind regularly, then don’t worry. We are here to help answer all of them, and some more. How? Well read on and learn some amazing facts about washing your hands. They might not be terribly exciting, but they are without a sliver of any doubt, terribly important.
Here are 8 amazing facts about washing hands that you don’t want to overlook, but chances are, you end up doing so anyway.
How Many Times In A Day?
Fact: Studies say that you should wash your hands around 6 times in a day.
So, there you have it, the answer to your question. Now, you know how many times you should wash your hands. As we are awake for around 16 hours, once in every 2.5 hours should do the trick. Your palms have potentially touched 1500 potentially germy surfaces between washings.
How Long Do Germs Survive?
Fact: Germs are tenacious little buggers, and can survive on your hands anywhere from 2 to 24 hours
You may have washed your hands ten minutes ago, but if you have a cold, and you just blew your nose, wash your hands more often than normal. It helps rid your hands of any remaining germs.
Keep Your Hands To Yourself
Fact: You can easily touch up to 300 germ-infested surfaces in just half an hour.
Incredible isn’t it, and we aren’t even counting the ones among you who love gardening.
What that means is that you could get sick from germs left by others on ten surfaces. Did you know that a study by Purdue University in 2012, found that cell phones contain 10 times more bacteria than a toilet seat!
Fact: The average woman or man touches her/his face around 16 times in an hour.
Since we are on the subject of to touch or not to touch, let’s be clear. You can’t avoid touching your face. But you can try to keep your hands clean and free from germs. So, wash your hands six times a day and stay safe.
Technique Matters- It always does:
Technique is important for everything that you do, but who’d have thought that washing hands had a technique?
Fact: According to WHO, the right technique and regular hand washing is more important and prevents more diseases than vaccines or medical treatment.
Incredible, isn’t it! However, it doesn’t mean that you don’t need vaccines. Follow your doctor’s advice on that, but surprise him with the above fact.
Reducing The Risks:
Washing your hands frequently can half the risk of contracting foodborne diseases.
According to the CDC, washing hands reduces the risk of diseases by around 50%. So, all you need to do is wash your hands properly, and you get to keep those bacteria at bay
Soap And Water:
Okay, we admit that this one’s a bit obvious. It’s why our mums always insisted on using soap and water. So, now you know! But, remember…
Washing hands with water and not soap, does not always kill those pesky little germs. They can survive a bath, but not the antiseptic hand wash.
Arresting Diseases:
Washing hands properly could prevent the 75 million odd cases of diarrhea and stomach problems affecting people in the United States each year.
Whoa! That’s a huge number! Wash your hands frequently and avoid becoming one of the 75 million ‘no time to wash my hands so have diarrhea’ club.
We, hope you found our list of facts useful and amazing. Do you know about any more incredible facts about washing your hands? Do you have any tips for our readers? Please share your opinions and stories with us here.
Source:in.news.yahoo.com/8-facts-washing-hands-dont-054215107.html
Environmental Facts:
Water Facts
- Water is made up of two elements, hydrogen and oxygen. Its chemical formula is H2O.
- Each molecule of water is made up of two hydrogen atoms bonded to a single oxygen atom.
- The existence of water is essential for life on Earth.
- Water has three different states, liquid, solid and gas.
- The word water usually refers to water in its liquid state. The solid state of water is known as ice while the gas state of water is known as steam or water vapor.
- Water covers around 70% of the Earth’s surface.
- The three largest oceans on Earth are the Pacific Ocean (largest), the Atlantic Ocean (second largest) and the Indian Ocean (third largest).
- Found in the Pacific Ocean, the Mariana Trench is the deepest known point in the world’s oceans.
- Ocean tides are caused by the rotation of the Earth and the gravitational pull of the Moon and Sun acting on ocean water.
- The freezing point of water lowers as the amount of salt dissolved in at increases. With average levels of salt, seawater freezes at -2 °C (28.4 °F).
- The longest river in the world is the Nile River, it reaches 6650 kilometers in length (4132 miles).
- The second longest river in the world is the Amazon River, it reaches 6400 kilometres (4000 miles) in length.
- The longest river in the USA is the Missouri River. At around 2,340 miles (3,770 km) in length it is slightly longer than the Mississippi River (2,320 miles). The two combine to form the longest river system in North America.
- Water makes a good solvent with many sugar, salts and acids easily dissolving in it. On the other hand oils and fats don’t mix well with water.
- The water cycle involves water evaporating (turning into a gas), rising to the sky, cooling and condensing into tiny drops of water or ice crystals that we see as clouds, falling back to Earth as rain, snow or hail before evaporating again and continuing the cycle.
- Water in the form of ice is found at the polar ice caps of the planet Mars, some scientists have also suggested the possibility of liquid water on the red planet.
- Pure water has no smell and no taste, it also has a pH level around 7.
- While most people know that water boils at 100 °C (212 °F), this is at the normal conditions of sea level. The boiling point of water actually changes relative to the barometric pressure. For example, water boils at just 68 °C (154 °F) on the top of Mount Everest while water deep in the ocean near geothermal vents can remain in liquid form at temperatures much higher than 100 °C (212 °F).
- Water expands as it cools from 4 °C to 0 °C (above 4 °C it does the opposite). In freezing conditions, water has been known to burst water pipes as it freezes to ice.
- Water can move up narrow tubes against the force of gravity in what is known as capillary action. Check out this capillary action experiment for more.
- Most people around the world have access to clean drinking water but it is a major problem in poorer areas of the world. Water pollution and low quality water can lead to dangerous bacteria, disease and viruses such as E coli and Cryptosporidium.
- Drinking water is needed for humans to avoid dehydration, the amount you need each day depends on the temperature, how much activity you are involved in and other factors.
- An important use for water is in agricultural irrigation, this is when water is artificially added to soil in order to assist the growth of crops.
- Water is used frequently by firefighters to extinguish fires. Helicopters sometimes drop large amount of water on wildfires and bushfires to stop fires spreading and limit the damage they can cause.
- The water industry helps deliver water to homes in various cities and countries around the world. This can involve services such as purification, sewage treatment, filtering, distillation and plumbing.
- Electricity can be created from hydropower, a process that uses water to drive water turbines connected to generators. There are many hydroelectric power stations around the world.
- Water also plays a role in cooking. Steaming and boiling food are well known cooking methods. You may have noticed this last time you made pasta or noodles.
- Water is also used for fun. Water sports are a very popular recreational activity and include things like swimming, surfing and waterskiing. Ice and snow is also used in ice skating, ice hockey, skiing and snowboarding.
Source: http://www.sciencekids.co.nz/sciencefacts/water.html
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