Are second hand books unhygenic?

amother

Denim

Thu, May 17 2018, 4:45 pm

I am generally careful about these things, but books don't seem to bother me. It's not the kind of thing that's being touched constantly, like an elevator button or escalator railing. This means that any bacteria or viruses are likely to die before I touch them.

DrMom

Thu, May 17 2018, 5:05 pm

OP, your friend sounds like a germophobe or OCD sufferer.

Miri1

Thu, May 17 2018, 5:09 pm

Flu can lasts up to 24 hours on a hard surface (15 min on a tissue!).
Herpes (the lip kind) only a few hours...

I'm not so worried about germs on a book when you consider that there is usually a bit of time between the last person reading it and the next one to take it out.
As long as the kids don't chew them Smile

allthingsblue

Thu, May 17 2018, 5:49 pm

Call me crazy, but I do get grossed out from library books and will not allow them to touch my bed. (I love to read in bed...)

penguin

Thu, May 17 2018, 5:59 pm

I am comfortable with the assumption that most germs die after a while. True, there may be some that are longer lasting. But then you'd need to wear gloves every time you leave the house...

Raisin

Thu, May 17 2018, 6:43 pm

Your bed? Beds are full of germs! I'll bet library books are cleaner then beds. (I'm going to warn you germophobes NOT to click on the link or you may never go to sleep happily again. Or, you might go and live with the chimps)

https://www.washingtonpost.com.....30afb

Raisin

Thu, May 17 2018, 6:45 pm

And only clean and hygenic people read the books I like to read! LOL

zaq

Thu, May 17 2018, 10:05 pm

Everything everywhere is unhygienic, but unless your immune system is seriously compromised (e.g. you have HIV, are on chemo, take anti-rejection drugs for a transplant, are already depeleted from battling a recent serious infection, or have an immune system disorder), your immune system will handle it just fine. Keeping your hands away from your face and washing your hands before eating, drinking or any activity involving touching your face will also help.

curlyhead

Thu, May 17 2018, 11:05 pm

According to you librarian will get sick more then average as they spend their days touching the books.

samantha87

Thu, May 17 2018, 11:30 pm

amother wrote:

Do you know how filthy money is?

That's why the world is going cashless. LOL

amother

Sapphire

Fri, May 18 2018, 12:35 am

observer wrote:

That's true, but at least they stay in the shul. Whereas library books in all likelihood have been kept in people's bathrooms etc.

.

Then they have to be flagged. (Seinfeld reference.) Wink

amother

Plum

Fri, May 18 2018, 1:15 am

Absolutely, but not because of germs. Your two biggest concerns with second-hand books (as well as articles of clothing) are book lice and bed bugs. You need to freeze any second-hand books or articles of clothing for a minimum of 24 hours by sticking them in your freezer to kill any unwanted insects and/or eggs. Cherry

grace413

Fri, May 18 2018, 1:23 am

thunderstorm wrote:

It doesn't bother me, but I did notice that some of the librarians at my library actually wear gloves when handling the books.

This is more likely to protect the books than the librarian. Our skin excretes oils which will eventually stain the pages that are touched frequently. I have a siddur where it's very obvious which pages are well used.

cozyblanket

Fri, May 18 2018, 1:36 am

amother wrote:

Lice can be killed in a freezer, but bed bugs cannot. They freeze and then thaw out and are still alive. They are ruthless.

naturalmom5

Fri, May 18 2018, 2:39 am

While you are posting on ImaMother, your laptop probably has 100 times as many germs as the book does

amother

Plum

Fri, May 18 2018, 1:59 pm

cozyblanket wrote:

Lice can be killed in a freezer, but bed bugs cannot. They freeze and then thaw out and are still alive. They are ruthless.

https://www.sciencenews.org/bl.....-long

Quote:

Joelle F. Olson of the University of Minnesota Twin Cities and colleagues froze bedbugs at various stages of life, fed and unfed, for varying lengths of time. The bad news was that the bugs didn’t die nearly as quickly as other studies had found, a mere hour or two at -16° or -17° Celsius. “In our study, bedbugs survived lower temperatures, with eggs surviving in short-term exposures … to temperatures as low as -25° C,” the researchers write. But the bugs are not freeze tolerant, the scientists found, and they can be killed — no matter their stage of life or feeding status. All it takes is 80 hours in temperatures of -16° C.

The finding confirms a standard practice for museum collections and food commodities: Potentially infested items are frozen to kill any hidden insect pests. And it provides a completely safe method of control for regular folk, at least for items they can fit into the freezer. The researchers advise:

Items suspected of infestation should be bagged before placement in the freezer to prevent bedbugs from exiting the items and perishing elsewhere inside the freezer. Bagging an item before placing it in a freezer will also protect it against changes in condensation or damage caused by moisture. Infested items should be placed in the freezer at -17.8° C (0° F) for a minimum of 3.5 [days], though time may be decreased to 48 [hours] if temperatures average below -20° C.

Okay. So freeze for 4 days to kill bed bugs. If you don't see any bed bugs, the eggs need a shorter time period to die.

Cherry