You can worry about everything, if you want to. For example, paranoid people should not step foot outdoors. There are so many reasons to be fearful -- if you are inclined to be fearful. If cellular phone antennas won't get you, then high power electric lines may do so. And, we haven't even mentioned ultra violet radiation from the sun.

So the trick to staying healthy is remaining indoors. Right? Maybe not, at least again if you want to be paranoid about everything.

Scientists, apparently being paid by bleach manufacturers, have been recently reporting that laundry can make you sick as well. Studies suggest that coliform bacteria is found in many residential washing machines. And E-coli bacteria has also been found in many machines. E-coli has been in the news as of late for making people ill from eating meat that has not been properly prepared. Undergarment washes seem to produce the most bacteria. According to one study, 10 percent of the machines had E-coli bacteria. If you wash clothing mixed with undergarments, that is enough to contaminate the entire load of wash. And the next load may also be contaminated.

Laundry manufacturers are aware of this issue. One brand, Tide, has been reformulated so that it is now a laundry detergent that contains bleach.

If you are inclined to buy into all of this, they say that problem is two-fold.

Most Americans no longer use hot water for their wash. Cold water and warm water are more frequently used, and that does not kill as much bacteria and viruses as does hot water. And a study financed by bleach maker Clorox shows that people use germ killing bleach in just 15 percent of their wash loads. You know, if I sold bleach for a living, I am not sure that I would want to admit that most people do not use my product anymore.

In addition, washer and dryer cycles are now shorter than they used to be, so the laundry process provides less time for germ killing to occur. All of these reasons apparently explain why many germs and viruses are surviving the home laundering process. The greatest risk to people occurs when wet clothes, soaked with germs and viruses, are transferred from the washing machine to the dryer. After the transfer, people can touch their nose or mouth, or maybe forget to wash their hands and eat some food. And bam - they encounter germs.

Clorox has offered some solutions which may prove to be helpful:

1. Wash hands after sorting laundry.
2. Wash hands after transferring wet laundry to the dryer.
3. Wash underwear after other loads are washed, and if possible, with bleach (the only suggestion that I think is realistic).
4. When finished laundering, run an empty load using one cup of bleach

As I said, you can really make yourself crazy over almost everything, if you want to. And I have never heard of anyone actually becoming sick after doing a load of wash. Have you?

Come to think of it, I have heard many people say they are sick of doing the wash. Is that the same thing?

For more articles by Stuart Leiberman, please press here.