[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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