A study published last week in the journal Science found that snow contains large amounts of Pseudomonas Syringae, a bacteria that can cause disease in bean and tomato plants.
The research showed that even pristine snow from places such as the Yukon and Montana contain large amounts of the bacteria.
However, experts say there is no need for parents whose children play or even eat the newly fallen snow to be overly concerned.
“It’s a very ubiquitous bacteria that’s everywhere,” said Dr. Penelope Dennehy, a member of the American Academy of Pediatrics’ committee on infectious diseases, in an Associated Press Report.
“Basically, none of the food we eat is sterile. We eat bacteria all the time.”
Children are exposed to a multitude of bacteria in playgrounds, and Dennehy said they wouldn’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,” Dr. Joel Forman, a member of the pediatric academy’s committee on environmental health, told Associated Press.
“Your stomach is a fantastic barrier against invasive bacteria because it’s a very acidic environment,” he said.
But 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 in general, said Dr. Lynnette Mazur, a professor of pediatrics at the University of Texas Medical School. Also, both Forman and Mazur said Pseudomonas could threaten people with cystic fibrosis.
Since the study didn’t look at the effects on people, experts said without further analysis it is impossible to say what harm the bacteria might do to a child who consumes 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 said.
To be on the safe side though, pediatricians say because of ordinary air pollution in snow it’s probably wise not to eat large amounts.
Mazur offered some general guidance for parents, “Licking a little snow off a glove is probably OK. A meal of snow is not,” she said.
Some parents say they are not going to worry about their kids eating snow that looks clean.
Kristin Lang, 37, of Maplewood, N.J., whose 2-year-old son Charlie has swallowed his share of snow, told AP, “My snow-eating concerns are generally more of the dirt-urine variety.”
Tricia Sweeney, a mother of three in Cornwall-on-Hudson, N.Y., said as long as her kids eat the snow as its falling, “I think it’s OK. I tell them not to eat it if it’s on the ground.”
Comments