Blissfully ignorant of the chaotic zoo that her head has become: A hairspray user smiles for the camera.
Courtesy StarMamaThanks to the hard work of diligent microbiologists, human beings now have something new to think about.

This would be frustrating for me, because I already spend so much time thinking about America’s Funniest Home Videos, the Hantavirus, water shoes, and body odor, except that this new discovery, for the most part, only applies to people who use hairspray. I don’t even use a comb, so I think I’m in the clear.

Anyway, the new thing you should be thinking, nay, worrying about, is this: Microbacterium hatanonis. It’s a brand new bacteria that lives in your hairspray. Surprise!

Contamination of cosmetic products is rare, but, obviously, not unheard of. And while you may not have realized that you have been spraying your head with Microbacterium hatanonis, you’ve probably had intimate contact with some of its Microbacterium relatives, which are known to live out their greasy little lives “in milk, cheese, beef, eggs…on catheters, and in bone marrow…and even in the blood of patients with leukemia.” And in your hair, of course.

While similar Microbacterium have been found to infect humans, whether or not M. hatanonis is likely to cause any trouble for people remains to be seen. If you have any hope of getting a serious worry on, though, I think it’s pretty safe to assume that it will be found to infect humans. And its effects? I’m sure they’ll include a whole variety of weeping sores, burning sensations, and sour odors. If you don’t like that, I’m sorry—I don’t make the symptoms, I just imagine them. In the mean time, I strongly recommend careful microscopic inspection of all hairspray before applying it to your head, or wherever else you might use it.

Tags : Microbacterium, hairspray, health, infectious disease, bacteria, your germy head

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