[Jewelry making - Article 00075] - Re: [Orchid] Health hazards from Customer Jewelry?

[Brigid C. Nelson]

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>      As a general rule though, pathogenic bacteria and viruses simply
>     do not live on clean, hard, dry metal surfaces and only a few might
>     survive if the surface was moist and warm.  (The only exception to
>     this of which I am aware is the prion of BSE & Creutzfeld-Jacob
>     disease fame.  It seems to survive sterilization procedures!  But
>     then, we don't ingest jewelry or use it in brain surgery.) 

    I must point out that the Hepatitis C virus is another nasty bug
    that will live for quite a while on a dry metal surface. It is also
    very difficult to kill and  has such a long period of incubation
    that sometimes it is impossible to tell where one originally acquired
    it.  Earrings and other jewelry for piercings are an ideal way to
    spread such an infection, and since I am not set up for hospital
    sterilization I do not allow these items to be tried on before
    purchase, and if I must accept a return I destroy the ear wire. 

Brigid Nelson
BridgeWerke

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