Snow + Kids = BAD?

March 5, 2008

Posted in: Why

Tags: Bacteria, Dirty Snow, Diseases, Epidemic, Internet Sleuth, Mona, Montana, New Snow, Phrase, Pleasures, Pseudo, Pseudomonas, Real Reason, Smarty Pants, Snow Kids, Sucker, Tomato Plants, Wiki, Yellow Variety, Yukon

I often wonder why articles get published. I mean sure I can understand why a lot of them get published. Then there are others that make me scratch my head and go “Why?”.

The following article is no exception. It’s one of those, ‘who cares’ type things. It’s especially irksome because it flip flos back and forth and concludes with no real reason as to why it’s important to anyone.

The Article

To the list of simple childhood pleasures now endangered, add this: eating snow.
A recent study found that snow - even in relatively pristine spots like Montana and the Yukon - contains large amounts of bacteria.

Sure, it seems everything is under attack now - stuff that I did when I was a kid. It seems daily that anything that was remotely fun is extremely dangerous. But be careful. They slide in the phrase “large amounts of bacteria”. If that doesn’t scare you what would, you uncaring meany of a parent.

Parents who warn their kids not to eat dirty snow (especially the yellow variety) are left to wonder whether to stop them from tasting the clean, new-fallen stuff, too, because of Pseudomonas syringae, bacteria that can cause diseases in bean and tomato plants.

Ahh a slight bit of humor to slip it by easier. But why would I wonder about stopping them from eating snow all together - I mean I am just now learning about this bacterial epidemic. Wait, it’s called what? Pseudo-mona what’sa whosit! Now for the parents who might be getting nervous here, let me try to break this down.

As a junior self proclaimed internet sleuth hound, I can’t help but track stuff down. I naturally do not believe anything I read on the internet, and I pass that bit of truth on to you - just don’t. So let’s consult a few other references on this new snow related fun sucker.

I went to the wiki and after a bunch of words that said some smarty pants type stuff, I found something.

Since the 1970’s, P. syringae has been implicated as an atmospheric ‘biological ice nucleator’. Recent evidence has suggested that the species plays a larger role than previously thought in making it rain and snow[5].

That reads to me like, they’ve known since the 70’s that this bacteria is what agitates the skies and makes it rain and snow. Let’s see, I was born in the 70′, I ate snow as a kid. In fact when I lived in West Virginia we got snowed in for several days and had to drink snow water. I admit, I still eat snow. Now I find out I’ve been eating bacteria! Crap…

But experts say there’s no need to banish snow-eating along with dodgeball, unchaperoned trick-or-treating and riding a bike without a helmet.

I’ll ask it…
Then why did you print the article? Maybe if this article said it cause flesh eating bacteria to grow in the folds of brain tissue, I could understand, but you started off the article by making it sound like there’s a problem then within a couple of paragraphs you say nevermind - it’s not even as bad as dodgeball (I can still smell the rubber and hear high pitch smack as the ball would take another victim). What am I to do?

“It’s a very ubiquitous bacteria that’s everywhere,” says Penelope Dennehy, a member of the American Academy of Pediatrics’ committee on infectious diseases. “Basically, none of the food we eat is sterile. We eat bacteria all the time.”
Children practically bathe in bacteria when they go to the playground, and Dennehy says they won’t get anything from snow that they wouldn’t get from dirt.
“We eat stuff that’s covered with bacteria all the time, and for the most part it’s killed in the stomach,” says Joel Forman, a member of the pediatric academy’s committee on environmental health. “Your stomach is a fantastic barrier against invasive bacteria because it’s a very acidic environment.”

Does anyone remember (I think they still sell it) the detergent for your fruits and veggies? At any rate, I guess as long as your not a germ-a-phobe you already knew that bacteria lived everywhere. It’s good to know that it’s okay to eat snow, even though you tried to scare me into not eating it, because I eat bacteria all the time. Check out what’s hiding under your fingernails…

There are exceptions. “Tiny kids on formula a lot of times don’t have the acid in their stomachs,” making them more vulnerable to bacteria, says Lynnette Mazur, a professor of pediatrics at the University of Texas Medical School. Also, Forman and Mazur say that Pseudomonas can be a threat to people with cystic fibrosis.

I hope I’m not the only one who thought this, but what tiny little kid that’s still on formula is out side by their self to eat snow? I mean By the time my kids are able to get to the snow they’re off formula and by quite some time. For it being a threat, I’d be willing to bet everything becomes a threat with a weakened immune system and getting outside it a risky adventure to begin with.

The study, published last week in the journal Science, didn’t examine the effects on people. And experts say without further detail, it’s impossible to say what the bacteria could do to an infant or child who eats extraordinary amounts. “I can say that I’m not aware of any clinical reports of children becoming ill from eating snow. And I looked,” Forman says.
In any case, because of ordinary air pollution in snow, it’s probably wise not to eat of lot of the stuff, pediatricians say. For parents in search of guidance, Mazur offers this: Licking a little snow off a glove is probably OK. “A meal of snow” is not.

Wait, what? Didn’t study the effects on people. But we shouldn’t eat it, though you also say it’s okay. I’m starting to get confused. I don’t know any kids that would actually sit and eat a meals worth (how much is that?) of snow. But it sounds like the articles author is getting confused too, first it’s a bad idea, then it’s okay, then it’s bad, then it’s okay…

Some parents say they are not going to worry about their kids eating snow that looks clean.
“My snow-eating concerns are generally more of the dirt-urine variety,” says Kristin Lang, 37, of Maplewood, N.J., whose 2-year-old son Charlie has swallowed his share of snow.
“When I heard bacteria, at first I went ‘eew,”‘ says Tricia Sweeney, a mother of three in Cornwall-on-Hudson, N.Y. But as long as the kids eat snow as it’s falling, “I think it’s OK. I tell them not to eat it if it’s on the ground.”

Good, I wouldn’t worry about it either, well except the yellow stuff. But there lies the problem - it’s only dirty if it’s on the ground mentality - sorry if it’s an actual problem it started before it hit ground. There’s just more chance of other containments added to it from the ground.

So my question still stands, what was the purpose of this article? It answered a question no one asked and no one was worried about, only to say in effect don’t worry about it anyway. I want my 5 minutes back after reading this!

But I’m not a medical professional, I’m just a cynic who likes to be sarcastic. So don’t take my advice, just ask your doctor.

Posted in Why