Return to Transcripts main page
CNN Live At Daybreak
Testing Your Cleanliness I.Q.
Aired October 21, 2003 - 05:58 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: It's a germ's world, or so it seems. A new household cleaning study shows most of you are germier than you should be.
CNN's Jeanne Moos tests your cleanliness I.Q.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEANNE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Here's a quiz where a dirty mind helps. Which is the dirtiest item in a house? Is it the toilet bowl, the kitchen sponge, the garbage can, the toothbrush? Forget the porno magazines.
DR. PHILIP TIERNO, NYU MEDICAL CENTER: The dirtiest of all things, bar none, is the dish rag and the sponge.
MOOS: Scream all you want, but it won't protect you from the germs lurking in your kitchen.
TIERNO: It's worse than the bathroom because here is where you have all of your road kill. You have your chickens, your steaks.
MOOS: According to a new study sponsored by Brillo, almost half the people surveyed use the same sponge to wipe the cutting board, the counters, even the dishes.
We call Dr. Philip Tierno "Dr. Germ" because he wrote the book.
TIERNO: "The Secret Life of Germs."
MOOS: Dr. Tierno likes to demonstrate how germs are spread by using a substance you can see under a black light to mimic the way a sponge disperses microorganisms. And watch out for the drain.
TIERNO: It is loaded with bacteria.
MOOS: How often should you change your household sponge? Once a month, every three months, every week or two, when it's so filthy you can't determine its original color. The answer is every week or two. Dr. Tierno keeps a bowl of disinfectant in his sink.
TIERNO: One ounce of Clorox in about a quart of water. Leave it here. I dip my sponge in.
MOOS: And just when you thought it was safe to go into the bathroom, beware of the flush.
TIERNO: The water aerosolizes up to 20 feet from the point, the center of that flush.
MOOS: So shut the lid, because who knows where those germy droplets will land. Which brings us to the next question -- how often should you sanitize your toothbrush? Sanitize my what? Once a day, once a week, once a month. Dr. Germ says rinse it with mouthwash or peroxide every day.
(on camera): Come on, we're not getting sick. We live like this. These people in this apartment aren't getting sick, the people who live here. What's the problem?
TIERNO: Not true. Not true.
MOOS (voice-over): Dr. Germ says when you get a case of the runs, it might be your sponge that has you running. He recommends emptying your vacuum cleaner bag once a month so the motor doesn't spew debris, though 28 percent of those surveyed say they don't empty it until the vacuum malfunctions. Somehow I almost liked it better when "The Secret Life of Germs" was kept a secret. Now I feel like a sponge is squeezing me.
Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired October 21, 2003 - 05:58 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: It's a germ's world, or so it seems. A new household cleaning study shows most of you are germier than you should be.
CNN's Jeanne Moos tests your cleanliness I.Q.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEANNE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Here's a quiz where a dirty mind helps. Which is the dirtiest item in a house? Is it the toilet bowl, the kitchen sponge, the garbage can, the toothbrush? Forget the porno magazines.
DR. PHILIP TIERNO, NYU MEDICAL CENTER: The dirtiest of all things, bar none, is the dish rag and the sponge.
MOOS: Scream all you want, but it won't protect you from the germs lurking in your kitchen.
TIERNO: It's worse than the bathroom because here is where you have all of your road kill. You have your chickens, your steaks.
MOOS: According to a new study sponsored by Brillo, almost half the people surveyed use the same sponge to wipe the cutting board, the counters, even the dishes.
We call Dr. Philip Tierno "Dr. Germ" because he wrote the book.
TIERNO: "The Secret Life of Germs."
MOOS: Dr. Tierno likes to demonstrate how germs are spread by using a substance you can see under a black light to mimic the way a sponge disperses microorganisms. And watch out for the drain.
TIERNO: It is loaded with bacteria.
MOOS: How often should you change your household sponge? Once a month, every three months, every week or two, when it's so filthy you can't determine its original color. The answer is every week or two. Dr. Tierno keeps a bowl of disinfectant in his sink.
TIERNO: One ounce of Clorox in about a quart of water. Leave it here. I dip my sponge in.
MOOS: And just when you thought it was safe to go into the bathroom, beware of the flush.
TIERNO: The water aerosolizes up to 20 feet from the point, the center of that flush.
MOOS: So shut the lid, because who knows where those germy droplets will land. Which brings us to the next question -- how often should you sanitize your toothbrush? Sanitize my what? Once a day, once a week, once a month. Dr. Germ says rinse it with mouthwash or peroxide every day.
(on camera): Come on, we're not getting sick. We live like this. These people in this apartment aren't getting sick, the people who live here. What's the problem?
TIERNO: Not true. Not true.
MOOS (voice-over): Dr. Germ says when you get a case of the runs, it might be your sponge that has you running. He recommends emptying your vacuum cleaner bag once a month so the motor doesn't spew debris, though 28 percent of those surveyed say they don't empty it until the vacuum malfunctions. Somehow I almost liked it better when "The Secret Life of Germs" was kept a secret. Now I feel like a sponge is squeezing me.
Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
