Take A Deep Breath: That Clarinet Could Be A Germ Factory

Playing music in the band is good for kids, but maybenot so much if that clarinet is a cesspool of bacteria andfungi.

That's the provocative suggestion from the Oklahoma State University for Health Sciences, whereresearchers found germs galore growing on brass and wind instrumentsthat were used in high school band programs.

The researchers inOklahoma CityTulsa swabbed 13 brass and wind instruments, then rubbed the swabs on petri dishes and waited to see what would grow.Theyfound 295 different bacteria as well as yeasts and molds. The parts thatmusicians put in their mouths were more contaminated than the rest of theinstruments, and the two clarinets showed more contamination than the otherinstruments.The results were published in the latest issue of GeneralDentistry.

OK, that's gross. But does having bacteria in yourbassoon really pose a health risk?

Yes, says ThomasGlass, a dentist and professor at Oklahoma State who was lead author of the study.In the past he has tested for pathogens on toothbrushes, dentures, and athleticmouthguards.So he wasn't too surprised to find gunk growing on bandinstruments."The bacteria can produce local infections in the mouth, in thegastrointestinal tract, and in the respiratory tract," Glass tells Shots.Moldscan cause allergic reactions, and skin infections are a risk, too, he says.

Glass's study didn't look to see if the high schoolerswho played these grubby instruments had health problems. And there's preciouslittle evidence of rampant infections associated with practicing "Stars andStripes Forever."

But a few pulmonologists have reported patients comingin with lung problems. A letterfrom 1988 in the journal Chest told the tale of a 67-year-oldsaxophone player with a cough and shortness of breath.He was diagnosed withhypersensitivity pulmonitis from candida, and it turned out the saxophone mouthpiecewas contaminated with that fungus. The symptoms disappeared after the musicianstarted washing the instrument's mouthpiece with soap andwater.

More recently, a 48-year-old French saxophonist with inflamed lungs from a moldy saxophone also got a write-up in Chest. In the same issue last September, a pulmonologist at the University ofConnecticut Health Center reported on a 35-year-old professional trombone player who had been suffering from a cough and shortness of breath for 15 years. Thosesymptoms cleared up when the musician started cleaning his instrument withrubbing alcohol.

Now, we have to point out that the General Dentistry study was sponsored by Dr. LorenzoLepore founder of Encore Etc., Inc.It turns out that Lepore is adentist, and Encore Etc., Inc.is a company he founded to sterilize musical instruments.

When Shots asked Glassif he saw a conflict of interest in that funding, particularly when he recommends sterilizing instruments with ethylene oxide, the method used byEncore Etc., Glass said:

We are independent of any conflict of interest. Allwe have to do in the article is say how we're funded. That has no impact on usin terms of our findings.

Ethylene oxide is used to sterilize medical instruments,and it does a very good job. It's also pretty toxic to humans. So we don't thinkthat you're going to be cleaning your mellophone at home with this stuff.

Glassdoes say that instrument cleaning products available at music stores areprobably enough to keep the microbes at bay.(Thanks to the magic of theInternet, Shots just learned how to give a trombone anice bath. All you need is soap, a bathtub and some fluffytowels.)

Shots can't help but ask if the good doctor isn't beinga wee bit alarmist."Alarmist?We worry about that, we always worry aboutbeing alarmist," he tells us. "It's not going to hurt anybody to break down their instrumentonce a week and clean it." That, he says, is preventivehealth.

"Playing a musical instrument has a certain level ofhazard," Glass says. "You can minimize the hazard by beingfastidious."