[Greenbuilding] ENERGY STAR Clothes Dryers Program Launch
Corwyn
corwyn at midcoast.com
Sun Jul 29 08:09:04 CDT 2012
On 7/28/2012 11:01 AM, Alan Abrams wrote:
> <Can you clarify for me how Lyme Disease and line drying are connected?>
>
> ticks have an affinity for fabric. my brother, a parasitologist, used
> to work on tick surveys: an area is staked out, and the ground is
> methodically dragged with piece of a bedsheet of a specified size and
> weave. The ticks cling to the fabric, which is unfurled, allowing the
> surveyor to classify and tally the catch.
That sounds like a completely unwarranted assumption to me. Ticks are
known to transfer from one creature to another by using a piece of grass
as a transfer point. Trolling with a cloth is just a good way to get
them to do that. Saying they have an *affinity* for cloth is like
saying that fish have an affinity for nets.
I live in a tick infested area, I find ticks on myself all the time, I
always dry my clothes on a line, I have never found a tick on an article
of clothing from the line. (I do try to ensure that clothes don't drag
on the ground, but that makes sense just from a cleanliness standpoint.)
I maintain (absent evidence directly addressing the question) that the
risk of getting a tick by putting laundry on the line, is the same as
any other outdoor activity in the same area. If you are worried about
ticks to the extent that you won't put laundry on the line, you
shouldn't be outside at all. Which would seem, to me, to indicate that
you should move to the city, where you can hang your laundry on a nice
balcony.
Thank You Kindly,
Corwyn
--
Topher Belknap
Green Fret Consulting
Kermit didn't know the half of it...
http://www.greenfret.com/
topher at greenfret.com
(207) 882-7652
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