Fungi of all kinds flourish in our sinks.
This is revealed by a study published in the journal Environmental DNA and relayed by Slate.
It was conducted by researchers from the University of Reading (UK) and the UK Center for Ecology and Hydrology.
Nearly 375 different kinds of mushrooms
They claim that certain fungi found in sinks can be dangerous to health.
For their study, they took and analyzed samples from drains mainly used for simple hand washing.
In total, they found no less than 375 different kinds of mushrooms.
These fungi include Exophiala in particular, which can cause simple superficial skin infections but also, in rare cases, fatal systemic infections.
Serious infections in rare cases
Other fungi are even more worrisome, especially for immunocompromised people, as they can cause serious infections.
This is the case, for example, of Fusarium, which is able to attack weakened organisms and which can lead to neutropenia, ie a decrease in certain white blood cells, which can lead to pneumonia or septicemia.
In short, a thorough cleaning from time to time can't hurt.
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