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Bonita woman aims to make area playgrounds cleaner
GREG KAHN
Michele Haszard was having fun with her children at a local playground when she noticed how dirty some of the equipment was. After searching around Bonita Springs and finding more of the same, she started a playground cleaning company called Heaven On Earth. "Instead of reactive, I decided to be proactive, " Haszard said.
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Children aren’t the only things hanging from the monkey bars on Southwest Florida’s playgrounds.
Just ask Charles Gerba, also known as “Dr. Germ,” a professor at the University of Arizona who has studied germs for decades.
“Basically, we see it as a good germ transfer point,” says Gerba. “If you were a germ, where would you want to be? You’d want to be where little kids are playing all the time.”
But if you’re Bonita Springs resident Michelle Haszard, 35, you don’t need to be a scientist to notice dirt on area play places. She’s a mother of three, and it was the grime she spotted that led her to start a new business and encourage operators of area playground equipment to clean them up. It began 10 months ago.
“I’ve gone to the park with my older ones for years and it just so happened when I went to the park that day, it was dirty and I was like ‘Oh, wow,’” said Haszard, who has worked as a professional cleaner for years. “That’s when I saw the mold and the mildew and it was just not clean.”
It turns out the problem goes beyond dirt. In a four-year germ study done on public places across the country, Gerba and others found playgrounds had more urine, sweat, mucus and saliva than all but day care centers. Fifteen of the team’s 42 samples tested positive for the bodily secretions, or about 36 percent of the time.
The team also found the contaminants on the surfaces will be transferred to the individuals touching them 86 percent of the time and will be present hours later on personal belongings and the homes of those individuals 82 percent of the time.
Gerba has also conducted studies for media companies in Arizona. In those studies, he has found fecal matter getting transferred to children’s hands from playground equipment, especially at playgrounds in fast food restaurants. Outdoor playgrounds, it seems, have gone to the birds, Gerba said.
“Birds use the playgrounds — particularly the monkey bars — as public rest rooms,” Gerba said.
And then there is recess. Though playgrounds have seen less and less use due to the increased pressure put on teachers to improve student performance on tests, when recess does happen, it happens for each grade level in a particular school.
“By the end of the day, you manage to have everyone sharing the same playground,” Gerba said.
So, when Haszard contacted the Lee County Department of Parks and Recreation and the Lee County School District, the reception was warm. Especially, she says, because she uses non-toxic, environmentally-friendly cleaning products to clean and disinfect the playground equipment children use. Haszard has already cleaned three Lee County playgrounds and school district Superintendent James Browder thanked her for contacting him. Haszard is in the process of being signed up as a vendor for the district, she said.
“It’s just a matter of getting people informed and aware of the effects,” Hazsard said, noting that it’s not just germs that need to be removed from the equipment. “You have the mold, you have the mildew. It causes respiratory problems, allergies, runny eyes, sneezing, coughing, and these are the effects that the children are in contact with.”
Her service is simple. Haszard powerwashes the whole playground and then disinfects the areas that get touched using her special “green” chemicals. The name of her company is Heaven on Earth Green Cleanse and Disinfect.
“The disinfectant is what cleans up any potential bacteria and fungi,” Haszard said. “Kids, mouth, hands, face, I mean, they touch everything. When you have a vast amount of children on a regular basis, there is just an array of different germs that spread that way.”
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Perhaps we should dip our kids in conveniently placed vats of antibacterioldefungicides at the entrance of these parks as they enter and exit these wastelands of contamination.
From what I understand: the rise in child allergies is due to our children living in extra-sterile conditions, and MRSA has been brought upon us by the widespread overuse on antibacteriol agents!
#1 Posted by Naplestango on September 15, 2008 at 11:13 p.m. (Suggest removal)
MRSA may be more attributable to the overuse of antibiotics to treat viral illnesses for which they have NO use. MRSA did not arise in the community but in hospitals and then traveled into the community. The overuse of antibiotics was not limited to outpatient use but occurred in hospitals as well.
One of the most significant comments: "it turns out the problem goes beyond dirt. In a four-year germ study done on public places across the country, Gerba and others found playgrounds had more urine, sweat, mucus and saliva than all but day care centers." First urine is sterile but can attack animals, mucus if wet can be a problem but if dried is not a great risk and saliva the same...still, it was great to see this comment. but I don't necessarily agree with the solution proposed in this article.
Day care centers are great spots for kids to transfer all kinds of diseases to one another. The little ones "taste the world". This "hand mouth" exploration is normal but poses risk when so many little ones are present and contamination common.
Naplestango, you mention one theory of why there is an increase in allergies. There are many more and finding a single cause would be nice, but it is unlikely. The deal is, many confounding factors and elements may combine to increase this kind of diagnosis. Molds are proteins which do trigger immune responses in young children...cockroaches and their excrement have also been linked to asthma and allergies as has second hand smoke.
While I think having cleaner environments for kids, (i.e.,
playgrounds, day cares (pre-K) and schools) is very important, I also see a VENDOR selling a product in this article. Good sales pitch, but it is a sale pitch playing to fears of parents.
Easier fix: Wash your hands with soap and water, watch your kids and be aware that "hand mouth" exploration is normal but increases risk for bacterial and viral illnesses in them (and you), wash their hands with normal soap and water too. Keep your own home clean too, but know they will explore the world and that isn't all bad.
In doing both outbreak investigations and control, I was suspicious when someone brought up a problem and was the one who was conveniently selling the solution. Wash your hands, wash your kids hands...and all you need is regular soap and water. Your grandmother was right!
#2 Posted by BlueTonguedVole on September 16, 2008 at 10:28 a.m. (Suggest removal)
If you want to know more about this lady's business...she has a blog.
http://lightworkers.org/blog/45447/ye...
Nice free advertisement NDN, it isn't bad to help out entrepreneurs such as Haszard, but I hate it when you disguise an ad as news. Product placement for newspapers? LOL.
I do wish her well, but, full disclosure of the reason behind the motives of this business woman makes it a different story. She appears to have a clean aura...(check out the blog).
#3 Posted by BlueTonguedVole on September 16, 2008 at 11:01 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Gerba is impressive. I was sure I knew his name...(had textbooks he co-authored and read a number of articles he authored or coauthored.)
Check out his website:
http://ag.arizona.edu/SWES/people/cv/...
Now the question is...what does Gerba think of her product? As an academic, he would not be likely to endorse it, but putting his quotes in juxapostion to her product? ??? I don't know how this info got there.
Was it NDN, or the product's manufacturer or the entrepreneur? Does Dr. Gerba know about it? Just questions another who studied "germs" would ask.
#4 Posted by BlueTonguedVole on September 16, 2008 at 11:12 a.m. (Suggest removal)
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