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"As you know, the popularitity of 3D movies has been booming this year, with Avatar, Alice in Wonderland, Shrek the Final Chapter, and the forthcoming Toy Story 3. At The Good Housekeeping Research Institute, we couldn&amp;#039;t help but wonder if 3D glasses - some of which come packaged, others which are distributed unwrapped - carry any germs and pose any health hazards to film viewers.    To find out what germs, if any, lurk on the glasses, we visited theaters showing the 3D films, gathering the glasses we could keep and swabbing those we couldn&amp;#039;t. We then sent our specimens to EMSL Analytical Laboratory in Cinnaminson, NJ for analysis (photo, left). What we found really startled us! None of the glasses, even those sealed in plastic bags, were sterile. Fortunately, most of the bacteria on them were of the type we encounter on a daily basis and aren&amp;#039;t cause for alarm. One of the four unwrapped pairs, however, was contaminated with staphylococcus aureus (check out the plate to the right). This is the same type of   bacteria that can cause skin infections, pinkeye, even pneumonia. Is there anything you can do to protect yourself against a potential risk? Yes, we found that cleaning the 3D glasses with a pre-moistened alcohol wipe killed over 95% of the bacteria. Even a wash with soap and water in the theater&amp;#039;s bathroom will reduce the bacteria by almost 95%. A wipe with a dry tissue, however, only removed 66% of the germs.  So go, enjoy the show! But if you&amp;#039;re concerned, give the spectacles a cleaning before you don them. Then, the only things creeping you out will be on the screen, not on your glasses! Look for our 3D glasses report online and in our July issue. And don&amp;#039;t forget to check out our tips for germ-proofing your home and sanitizing kitchen sponges, too. "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.goodhousekeeping.com/institute/a20844/how-clean-are-3d-glasses/>