Many hockey players, such as reporter Randy Boswell, are skating biohazards.
With bacteria growing on their equipment at up to 3,440 times higher than
acceptable levels, they can be a danger to themselves and others, reports Hugh
Adami.
by Hugh Adami
December 11, 2004
'This is very bad," he said quietly, with a wary look that would make most
wonder what horror they were about to be told.
Felix Skora unfolded the sheet of paper and slid it across the desk for his
guest to see. The information was numbing.
Germ warfare. That's what Skora's Gatineau laboratory, Micro B, found in Randy
Boswell's hockey bag after we took it there to see if the CanWest News
reporter's soppy, rank equipment posed a hazard to his health and to those
around him when he's on the ice trying, as he says, to be "an amalgam" of
Bobby Orr and Wayne Gretzky.
Skora has no idea if Orr and Gretzky had as much disregard for the care of
their equipment as Boswell does for his, but suggested some fast action be
taken in the laundry room.
" There is a need to disinfect this equipment," Skora said. "Possibly with
chlorine, alcohol and perhaps washed at a high temperature. Then, you should
be able to eliminate the bacteria, the yeast, the mould."
What Micro B found lurking about Boswell's equipment was a cesspool of
bacterial growth. "Very high concentrations," Skora explained.
Dr. Barry Dworkin, who writes a health column for the Citizen, said the
bacteria could include numerous types of pathogenic germs, viruses and fungal
substances, which can lead to a variety of illnesses and skin infections, some
of which he has treated.
Sounds good so far, eh?
The lab didn't test for moulds and yeast, but Skora said the high bacterial
concentrations would virtually guarantee their presence. In fact, said Dr.
Dworkin, heat and humidity stimulate growth of fungal matter.
Dr. Dworkin also said that in extreme cases, dirty hockey equipment can be a
habitat for the hepatitis B virus, which causes very high fever, weakness and
jaundice. The virus is found in infected blood and other bodily fluids, such
as sweat and saliva.
" It's disgusting," Dr. Dworkin said of what can lurk in a stinky hockey bag.
Having dirty sports equipment, he said, "is no different than not following
routine hygiene like changing your socks and underwear." Bacteria- and
viral-contaminated equipment is a very easy means of transmitting infection.
People who play sports are particularly susceptible to infections for various
reasons: Germs grow when athletic equipment gets warm and moist; sweating
softens the skin's main barrier, the stratum corneum, to the body; and germs
enter the body from scrapes, cuts and bruises.
Professional hockey players, who are covered from head to toe in protective
padding and sweat profusely during play, can be very susceptible to infection
because many, for superstitious reasons, refuse to update their equipment.
But at least professionals, and players through the junior and university
ranks, have training staffs responsible for the maintenance of equipment. It's
those who play at the minor levels, children and beer-leaguers, who may have
the most to worry about if they just leave their wet equipment in their hockey
bags until it's time to play again.
Not hanging up wet, smelly equipment to dry is a major reason for severe
bacterial contamination. While some may wash their jerseys, hockey socks and
undergarments before the next game, leaving the rest of the stuff in the bag,
like Boswell does, is not uncommon. There doesn't seem to be a reasonable
explanation from those who let their equipment rot, other than offering the
frequent refrain, "It's kind of a guy thing."
Allowing equipment to dry kills a lot of bacteria, although Dr. Dworkin
suggested that cleaning equipment with disinfectants should also be part of
the process, to make sure you're getting more bacteria and any spores left by
dead germs. Because they're reproductive cells, spores can be activated by
sweat or other moist conditions, which leads back to bacterial growth.
Athletic equipment is a very good host for germs because of the plastics and
foam used in its construction. For example, bacteria can get trapped in
crevices and pores of the materials and, if equipment isn't dried or cleaned
properly, the germs can flourish, multiplying en masse.
It is highly recommended that players do not share any piece of equipment.
Health issues are not the only problem with dirty equipment.
" What (damages) equipment is bacteria and mould buildup," said Darren
McCready, co-owner of Hockey Wash, a local company that specializes in
cleaning sports gear in what basically is a huge washing and drying machine
that uses special detergents and sanitizers.
" (Dirty equipment) eventually rots and falls apart. Equipment is expensive.
By keeping it clean, you're protecting your investment."
Skora's lab, which primarily conducts microbiological tests for bacteria in
wells, air, restaurants and food-processing plants, took bacteria samples from
five-by-five-centimetre surfaces of eight pieces of Boswell's equipment --
helmet, shoulder pads, pants, skates, elbow pads, athletic support, gloves and
shin pads.
A count of 25 or less of bacteria on hard surfaces (such as a restaurant
counter) is considered acceptable under Quebec provincial guidelines. Anything
above is considered a potential health hazard and disinfection is recommended.
There are no guidelines to bacteria levels in hockey equipment, although Skora
said the levels in Boswell's equipment were simply too high to ignore out of
concern for infection.
Here's what the lab results show:
1. Shoulder pads: 480 bacteria that were reproducing on that equipment as we
spoke. A concentration of 19 times higher than the acceptable quota under the
provincial guidelines.
2. Helmet: 750 (30 times higher)
3. Skates: 2,800 (112 times higher)
4. Pants: 4,500 (180 times higher)
5. Elbow pads: 6,200 (248 times higher)
6. Athletic support: 9,400 (376 times higher)
7. Gloves: 79,000 (3,160 times higher)
8. Shins pads: 86,000 (3,440 times higher)
In other words, in Boswell's equipment, the lab found 188,650 living,
reproducing bacteria on just eight samples, measuring 25 square centimetres
each. How many more were there?
Three, four million?
Boswell's equipment has since been cleaned by Hockey Wash. Micro B tested the
equipment afterward, and Skora says the results were amazing compared with the
first tests.
Every sample taken showed counts of bacteria to be within the standard set by
Quebec's environment ministry for hard surfaces -- 25 or less. There was no
sample taken in the second test of Boswell's skates: he didn't want them
cleaned for fear that the slightest change after being washed might throw off
his game.
Here are the result from the second lab test:
1. Shoulder pads: 18
2. Helmet: 22
3. Skates: No sample taken.
4. Pants: 24
5. Elbow pads: 14
6. Athletic support: 8
7. Gloves: 16
8. Shin pads: 12
While your skin is already a host to some of the bacteria found in the
contents of a hockey bag, and some of that bacteria on your skin is considered
"good" because it kills harmful germs, Dr. Dworkin said the "bacterial load on
dirty hockey equipment is greater than what your body is used to."
Thus, bacteria and viruses that get into your system, or that of the player
you just made contact with, can make either one of you as sick as a dog or
cause some excruciating pain.
Dr. Dworkin explained there are numerous ways for players to suffer or pass
ailments caused by the bacteria and viruses. Most of it, he said, is through
hand-to-hand contact.
One example is a player who adjusts a piece of equipment, such as his shoulder
pads or athletic support, and then grabs a drink from a water bottle. Another
player touches the same water bottle, either to move it or take a drink, and
then adjusts his mouthguard, allowing the bacteria he picked up from the
bottle to mix with his saliva, which carries it into his body.
Players colliding on the ice can send contaminated sweat showering into the
air, and into the nasal or oral passages.
Skin infections occur as bacteria find their way under the skin through cuts,
abrasions and bruises. Germs also get under the skin as it gets soft and
prune-like from the body's heat and sweat.
Fungal infections such as athlete's foot also require heat and moisture to be
stimulated.
Dr. Dworkin said various micro-organisms can cause problems once they get
through the skin because they multiply rapidly in warm and wet cells.
Nasty illnesses that bacteria and viruses found in hockey equipment can cause
include:
* Gastroenteritis (commonly know as stomach flu, which results in diarrhea and
nausea);
* Other viral illnesses such as influenza, colds, pneumonia and chicken pox;
* Various skin infections, including impetigo, caused by either the
streptococcus (strep) or staphylococcus (staph) germs;
* Diarrhea, bleeding and cramping, caused by a strain of E. coli, found in
fecal matter and often ending up in the athletic support.
The streptococcus and staphylococcus families of bacteria can be extremely
dangerous and are spread through broken skin. Staphylococcus aureas, or MRSA,
is one that is particularly feared because it is resistant to certain
antibiotics, can poison blood and even kill you. Sometimes, though, it causes
no more than a mildly painful blister.
Recent cases of MRSA, considered a "superbug," have involved U.S. high school
and university football players who developed infections through razor nicks
from cosmetic body shaving. The infections spread through body contact.
Last year, several members of the NFL's Houston Texans developed MRSA
infections and needed intravenous antibiotics.
Former Toronto Maple Leafs forward Mikael Renberg had a run-in with group-A
strep and nearly lost a hand as a result. While tying his skates for a
practice in late December 2002, a lace opened a blister on his left hand. The
hand became so infected the next day that he developed a 104-degree fever and
ended up in a Vancouver hospital, where doctors considered amputation over
fears that the infection could spread and kill him.
Boston Bruins star Joe Thornton was put on intravenous antibiotics in January
2003, after he fell and bruised his left elbow during practice and developed
an infection a few days later. It was believed that the infection came from
bacteria in his elbow pad or from bacteria in his hand, which he transmitted
by rubbing the bruise.
Some other NHL players who suffered bad infections in recent years include
Detroit Red Wings forward Darren McCarty (elbow), Leafs goalie Eddie Belfour
(hand) and former San Jose Sharks defenceman Gary Suter (shoulder). Suter's
infection ate a large part of one of the triceps muscle in his upper arm.
In September 2003, Tampa Bay Lightning star Vincent Lecavalier was prescribed
antibiotics after his right ankle became infected through scar tissue as he
was breaking in a pair of skates.
Boswell? He claims he is as "healthy as a horse" and doubts he has ever
suffered an illness related to his equipment.
Reprinted with the permission of the Ottawa Citizen