‘Indian homes as dirty as it gets’-TNN, Oct 21, 2010,

‘Indian homes as dirty as it gets’

Pratibha Masand, TNN, Oct 21, 2010, 12.14am IST

MUMBAI: Those who pride themselves on keeping their surroundings clean, this might come as a shocker. According to a global Hygiene Home Truths Study, India is among the worst when it comes to hygiene.

The hygiene survey, conducted by Reckitt Benckiser, visited a total of 180 families across nine countries: UK, USA, Germany, Canada, South Africa, Saudi Arabia, Malaysia, Australia and India. It was found that while Saudi Arabia had the highest level of bacteria and mould on household surfaces, India was recorded second highest.

The study shows 51% of Indian household surfaces were unsatisfactory or heavily contaminated with bacteria. About 85% of Indian household surfaces were unsatisfactory or highly contaminated with mould, a form of fungus.

According to Dr Narendra Saini of the Global Hygiene Council, the hotspots are bathroom and kitchen seals, refrigerator interiors, computer keyboards and mouse. ''While it is well known that bathrooms are the most unhygienic places and people take extra care to keep them clean, corners where the floor joins the wall are the places most infested with moulds and germs,'' he said.

The study also revealed that 10% of Indian refrigerators, 40% of kitchen towels and a large number of kettle/pan handles harboured E coli bacteria, which causes water-borne diseases.

Experts believe that there are three reasons why the problem is worse in India: high temperature, high humidity and food. ''We have taken into consideration all economic classes in the survey. In the lower economic strata, there is bound to be hygiene problems. However, we found that the upper economic strata was equally infested though their surfaces looked cleaner,'' said Saini.

The reason, he said, was that the urban population doesn't allow sunlight and ventilation in houses. ''Take Mumbai for example. Here, the affluent families suffer infectious diseases as they use air-conditions all the time. So, the same air is constantly circulating in their houses. Also, there is constant humidity in their bathrooms because of either wet or hot climate, or the geysers running in slightly chilly season. This gives rise to germs and moulds,'' Saini said.

However, despite poor results, 90% of Indian households feel that their home is spotless. ''Around 90% also said that they clean their households more frequently if someone was ill in their house. Most Indians feel that only bacteria cause illness. However, the mould or fungus can cause respiratory illness,'' said Chander Mohan Sethi, chairman of Reckitt Benckiser.