# Cleanliness **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 2, 2024, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cleanliness/995505 "2024-01-02T17:39:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2024, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cleanliness/995505/121 "2024-01-04T17:22:03Z")
Yup./ ---
**Author:** ![Ulfreida](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ulfreida/32/8014_2.png) [@Ulfreida](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulfreida)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2024, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cleanliness/995505/122 "2024-01-04T17:25:50Z")
Ah, my condolences. I hope it isn’t … avocado. Or rust. ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2024, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cleanliness/995505/123 "2024-01-04T17:30:48Z")
Oh. Not that kind. ---
**Author:** ![DavidNRockies](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidnrockies/32/6279_2.png) [@DavidNRockies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidNRockies)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2024, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cleanliness/995505/124 "2024-01-04T17:36:13Z")
Whoa. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2024, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cleanliness/995505/125 "2024-01-04T17:50:31Z")
All I know is I ain’t touching this whole digression with no pole, no matter how long (or short). ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2024, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cleanliness/995505/126 "2024-01-04T21:40:25Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > The hygiene hypothesis for allergies and autoimmune conditions has come under criticism recently and people have been saying that it has been disproven or discredited. Well, it’s more nuanced than that. But a big part of the disconnect is that the public does misunderstand what the Hygiene Hypothesis really means. To the public, “hygiene” is interpreted as personal cleanliness: washing hands, keeping food clean and fresh, sanitizing the home. But as noted in my earlier link about the Hygiene Hypothesis (from an expert at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health), what kids seem to need in their early life to reduce risk of future allergies and immune disorders is passive exposure to those allergens along with exposure to the _good_, or commensal bacteria, not the pathologic ones. So what we need is to teach our kids to wash up after using the bathroom, and before handling foods and before cooking, but also teach them is that it’s ok to play in the dirt too. Which is a seemingly contradictory lesson to many folks. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2024, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cleanliness/995505/127 "2024-01-04T22:01:53Z")
It makes sense. We did not evolve as a species in sterile conditions. ---
**Author:** ![Ulfreida](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ulfreida/32/8014_2.png) [@Ulfreida](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulfreida)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2024, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cleanliness/995505/128 "2024-01-04T23:12:40Z")
> [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](#): > > So what we need is to teach our kids to wash up after using the bathroom, and before handling foods and before cooking, but also teach them is that it’s ok to play in the dirt too. Which is a seemingly contradictory lesson to many folks. As I remember, that’s fairly exactly the contours of the parental advice we got growing up in the 1950’s - 1970’s. Play outside, wash your hands when you use the toilet, wash your hands before dinner. It was pretty simple. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2024, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cleanliness/995505/129 "2024-01-05T00:45:12Z")
Agreed. We dug in the sandbox, played in the garden, rolled around on the grass… And we washed our hands before dinner. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2024, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cleanliness/995505/130 "2024-01-05T01:16:41Z")
Hope no cats pooped in that sandbox. (I know, I know. I just won’t do!😊) ---
**Author:** ![Moriarty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moriarty/32/49_2.png) [@Moriarty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moriarty)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2024, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cleanliness/995505/131 "2024-01-05T01:46:06Z")
> [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](#): > > But as noted in my earlier link about the Hygiene Hypothesis (from an expert at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health), what kids seem to need in their early life to reduce risk of future allergies and immune disorders is passive exposure to those allergens along with exposure to the _good_, or commensal bacteria, not the pathologic ones. A good example of this is peanuts. Don’t want your kids to have peanut allergies? Expose them to peanuts early on. > **[Peanut Allergy: Early Exposure Is Key to Prevention](https://directorsblog.nih.gov/2017/01/10/peanut-allergy-early-exposure-is-key-to-prevention/amp/)** > > With peanut allergy on the rise in the United States, you’ve probably heard parents strategizing about ways to keep their kids from developing this potentially dangerous condition. But is it actual… ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2024, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cleanliness/995505/132 "2024-01-05T01:48:27Z")
Not much chance they won’t get exposed to peanuts. Peanut oil is in thousands of products. ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2024, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cleanliness/995505/133 "2024-01-05T03:34:42Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > Agreed. We dug in the sandbox, played in the garden, rolled around on the grass… And we washed our hands before dinner. Yup. And we played with the dogs and the cats; and some of us with the chickens and the cows and the horses. > [@Beckdawrek](#): > > Hope no cats pooped in that sandbox. Probably not. But they washed their butts, and then they washed us. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2024, 4:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cleanliness/995505/134 "2024-01-05T04:29:15Z")
One word: Toxoplasmosis ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2024, 4:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cleanliness/995505/135 "2024-01-05T04:50:42Z")
Quite a lot of people test positive for exposure, if anybody bothers to test. (I suspect I’d be one of them.) Infection was either asymptomatic or mild and mistaken for something else. A bad idea to catch it if about to be pregnant or during pregnancy, of course. ---
**Author:** ![Seanette](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/seanette/32/9139_2.png) [@Seanette](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Seanette)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2024, 4:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cleanliness/995505/136 "2024-01-05T04:58:05Z")
If I understand correctly, those of us who grew up with cats don’t have a lot to worry about, since we’ve most likely already had it. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2024, 5:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cleanliness/995505/137 "2024-01-05T05:13:41Z")
I wonder? Can a person leave it on a public toilet? Another person gets it, spreading to their household, then the neighbor borrows their damp hand-towel, gets it and blames it all on the cats. Hmmm. I may have just solved the mystery of life. (I knew cats would be involved, somehow) ---
**Author:** ![Seanette](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/seanette/32/9139_2.png) [@Seanette](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Seanette)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2024, 5:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cleanliness/995505/138 "2024-01-05T05:15:58Z")
> [@Beckdawrek](#): > > (I knew cats would be involved, somehow) Cats insist on getting involved in all human activities. Mine do not believe I should enter the bathroom without feline escort, and Allie cannot leave stuff in desk cubbies alone. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2024, 5:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cleanliness/995505/139 "2024-01-05T05:16:00Z")
> [@Beckdawrek](#): > > Hope no cats pooped in that sandbox. They did. It was kinda gross when we uncovered one. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2024, 5:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cleanliness/995505/140 "2024-01-05T05:33:25Z")
This is why there is not one in my yard. Well, that and we inadvertently built it on top of the old outhouse were the human head was found. So it’s all connected. Some how. It’s sorta how things happen to me. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cleanliness/995505.md?page=6) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cleanliness/995505.md?page=8)