Matters Microbial #71: Disinfecting the Built Environment December 25, 2024

Ever wonder what’s growing on your toothbrush? Today, Dr. Erica Hartmann, Associate Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Northwestern University, joins the #QualityQuorum to discuss how antimicrobial resistance can occur in the built environment we see all around us every day—and why it is vital to learn more about this association.

Host: Mark O. Martin

Guest: Erica Hartmann

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Links for this episode

• An essay on the Hygiene Hypothesis.
• An overview of the “built environment.”
• The trouble with triclosan.
• An essay on heavy metal resistance.
• An article from Dr. Hartmann’s group about the toothbrush microbiome (“Project Pottymouth”).
• A link to the Human Microbiome Project.
• An overview of antibiotic resistance and antibiotic resistance genes.
• An article about silver nanoparticles on toothbrushes.
• A blog post about probiotic cleaning products.
• An interesting post from Dr. Hartmann’s team about viruses in your bathroom.
• A video by Dr. Hartmann about her research.
• Dr. Hartmann’s faculty website.
• Dr. Hartmann’s research team website.

Intro music is by Reber Clark

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