BrainStuff Classics: Can Used Books Spread Germs?

Libraries are bastions of knowledge -- but are they also bastions of germs? Short answer: Nope! For the long answer, tune in to this classic episode of BrainStuff, based on this article: https://health.howstuffworks.com/wellness/used-books-may-be-germy-but-wont-make-you-sick.htm

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
Welcome to Brainstuff, a production of iHeartRadio. Hey brain Stuff,
Lauren Vogel Bomb here with another classic episode from our archives,
especially since the COVID pandemic. We live in a very
germ conscious world, but it turns out that we don't
have to worry about sharing books. The only peril in

(00:23):
them is to their characters. Hey brain Stuff, Lauren vogel
Bomb here. You remember books, words printed on paper, bound
between two covers. When Gutenberg introduced the printing press in
fourteen fifty, books became objects of extraordinary wonder that would
change the world. Throughout the centuries, These fascinating, tactile objects

(00:44):
educated and amused, instructed and advised, and curled up with
us on rainy nights, sparking our imaginations. In eighteenth century America,
lending libraries became egalitarian sanctuaries of knowledge, where farmers and
financiers alike could access for free all the mysteries of
the world. But in our current virtual, ephemeral, device driven culture,

(01:05):
books have become marginalized clutter. Sometimes casually thrown away. Books,
just like the rest of us, can end up in
some truly grungy places. In some cases, Bona fide treasures
have literally been tossed into garbage bins and kicked to
the curb a couple of cases in Point in Vancouver,
British Columbia. In twenty seventeen, a homeless man salvaged four

(01:27):
rough condition eighteen seventies Moroccan leather books from an alleyway
trash heap. Turns out, the four volumes, titled The Far East,
consists of twenty four issues of a rare English language
news magazine published in Shanghai, China, between eighteen seventy and
eighteen seventy eight. Back in two thousand and nine, Suthebee's
in London auctioned one hundred and eighteen issues of the
same periodical, with one hundred and twelve original album in prints,

(01:49):
the largest collection to surface on the market in thirty years,
for over forty two thousand dollars. Don Stewart, a veteran
bookseller and the owner of renowned mclloyd's Books in downtown Vancouver,
who who purchased the volumes for an undisclosed amount, said
it's the best thing ever to come out of the
garbage that I've ever encountered. And then in Ankara, Turkey,
over a period of time, sanitation workers in the Turkish

(02:11):
capital collected thousands of discarded books while making their garbage pickups.
Instead of abandoning them to landfills, these thoughtful, curious stewards
of knowledge rescued the books and compiled a library that
now houses six thousand volumes in every imaginable genre. Originally,
the library was set up only for the sanitation workers
and their families, but as words spread, people began to

(02:31):
donate cast off books, and the library opened to the
public in September of twenty seventeen. Now a vital part
of the community, the library is located in an old
brick building at the headquarters of the city's sanitation department.
The collection of salvaged volumes has grown so large that
the library now loans books to schools, various educational programs,
and prisons. These books, like any used books, may carry

(02:53):
the stains and abrasions of their former experiences, including generations
of people handling them. But as much as books may
impact us, how much of an impact do we leave
on books. Let's skip over to Los Angeles in twenty seventeen.
Sick at home with the flu Chyanne dabert A sixteen
year old high school sophomore wondered if she was getting
contagious germs all over the library books she was reading,

(03:15):
and then began to wonder if library books in general
might be potential carriers of infectious disease. So she created
an award winning international Science Fair project to find out.
With the help of local librarians, she chose popular books
that were checked out often and rubbed methodically taken swabs
from each book onto four Petrie dishes per book. Two
of the dishes contained agar, a substance that bacteria thrive upon,

(03:38):
and two of the dishes contained methylene blue, a chemical
that thwarts the growth of certain bacteria while enabling others. Next,
she put the plates in an oven at body temperature
to find out how many microbial colonies were present and
guess what, fearless library cardholders. Not much bacteria was present
on the books she tested, and none of the swabs
exhibited E. Coli. With that in mind, say hello to formites.

(04:01):
A formite is any non living object or substance capable
of carrying infectious organisms, such as viruses or bacteria, and
transferring them from one individual to another. We spoke via
email with Jesset Jacob, MD, an Associate professor of medicine
and hospital epidemiologist at Emory University Hospital Midtown. He said
that books and e readers can be considered formites, but

(04:23):
quote the infection risk is very low. Asked if it's
possible to get sick from touching a library book, for example,
someone with the flu licked their finger to turn the pages,
or sneezed or coughed on the book, Jacob said it's possible,
but unlikely. Influenza can survive on paper and cloth for
less than twelve hours. It's usually the respiratory secretions that
carry the highest burden virus, and it would not be

(04:45):
expected on spit, so licking a finger and turning a
page is less likely contagious than picking your nose and
then turning the page. Important safety tip, Jacob continued. Most
respiratory viruses are transmitted by indirect contact, such as when
a person touches an object think doorknobs and handles that
has been contaminated and then inadvertently touches a mucous membrane
such as the lining of the eyes, nose, and mouth.

(05:07):
While bacteria can potentially be spread by books or tablets
in most people, it will not cause infection. Asked what
kind of bacteria and viruses have the strongest survivability on paper,
Jacob said gram positive bacteria such as strep and staff
are better at persisting on surfaces in general, followed by viruses.
Jacob suggests that because so many people are allergic to

(05:29):
dust and mold, those are probably bigger problems than bacteria
or viruses on books. He left us with this sage
advice good for shared books and any other objects. Clean
your hands and avoid touching your face or mucous membranes
with potentially contaminated fingers to avoid catching a virus. So,
if you perchance regret tossing that once cherished, dog eared,

(05:50):
pizza stained copy of whatever it was that first ignited
your passions or awakened your sensibilities, but why not revisit
another well loved copy by checking it out at your
local library. According to Jacob, the odds of it making
you sick are quote very low, but with a pine,
the odds of it making you happy are very very high.

(06:14):
Today's episode is based on the article used books may
be jermy, but they won't make you sick. On how
stuffworks dot com, written by Kerry Tatrow. Brainstuff is production
of iHeartRadio in partnership with how Stuffworks dot Com, and
this episode was produced by Tristan McNeil and Tyler Klang.
Four more podcasts from my heart Radio visit the iHeartRadio app,
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