Bath

Two elementary school girls died in bath in September 2000. In both of the accidents, the girls were drowned because their hairs were rolled into the suction hole of the jet baths. According to the survey by Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry to bath makers, nearly 30 accidents have been found in a similar way including three deaths in the past ten years. As I experienced in my childhood, kids like playing in bathtubs. They dive to the bottom of bathtubs or try how long they can be under the water. So it’s natural to imagine that girls take baths in such a way with long hairs under the water.

Different from normal baths, this kind of jet bath is very comfortable especially to adults. The bubbles spouting from the holes of baths will bear water pressure to help promote the circulation of blood. Jet baths not only warm up our bodies but also comfort us mentally. Today’s inclination for health is driving people to buy such healthy products.

All products regarded as healthy are not actually healthy. There are many products that are rather harmful if they are used wrongly. Although almost all products put warnings in usage on the visible parts of products or instruction paper, such serious accidents don’t cease. Product makers should make further efforts to prevent any thinkable accidents. On the side of users, some kinds of efforts are needed as well.

Bath-related accidents are not only in jet baths but also in around-the-clock baths. This is one type of baths that we can take anytime we want. Once we put water into the bath, the water is cleaned up by circulating. Everybody knows that bathing itself is good to our health, but when busy we come late at night, we often do with showers instead of bathing that takes a little time. In this stressful societies bathing is one of the most inexpensive and effective ways to release stresses. It has been becoming popular for busy people, especially businesspersons to use such a type of around-the-clock bath because of its convenience and the effectiveness of bathing.

Convenient around-the-clock baths, however, may outbreak 'regionela' ,which causes pneumonia. This fact was found in the process of the government’s efforts for promoting sanitary measures in baths. Regionela lives in fresh water such as rivers, hot springs, even the cooling tanks of office buildings and hot-water supply system over twenty degrees centigrade. If those people who have weak immunity like kids and elders inhale the regionela, it’s possible for them to suffer from pneumonia or fevers. In fact there have been more than 200 cases related to regoinela in 18 months since April 1999, among the cases 10 people have died of the diseases according to the research by Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare. Although three fourth of the figures were caused in outside facilities such as public bath, you have to care about even the home type of around-the-clock baths.

I don’t focus on only the negative sides of those baths. Indeed, makers instruct users to exchange filters everyday. If you take bath by instructions, you can reduce the risks I mention above.