A letter published in The Gazette referred to the bag tax as “yet another attack by out-of-touch county leaders on working class families, who are already struggling to make ends meet” [Bag tax a burden on working class,” Oct. 26].

But it’s not just the money. It’s a matter of health. One wonders if county leaders are aware of the June 2010 study, “Assessment of the Potential for Cross Contamination of Food Products by Reusable Shopping Bags,” by researchers at the Department of Soil, Water and Environmental Science, University of Arizona, Tucson, Ariz., and the School of Public Health, Loma Linda University, Loma Linda, Calif., and funded by the American Chemistry Council. Their conclusions and recommendations:

Ÿ Consumers almost never wash reusable bags;

Ÿ Large numbers of bacteria were found in every reusable bag, but none in new bags or plastic bags;

Ÿ Coliform bacteria, including E. coli, were found in half of the bags tested;

Ÿ Bacteria were capable of growth when stored in the trunks of cars;

Ÿ A potential significant risk of bacterial cross contamination exists from using reusable bags to carry groceries;

Ÿ Hand or machine washing reduced the number of bacteria in reusable bags by greater than 99.9 percent;

Ÿ Requiring printed instructions on reusable bags that they be washed between uses or the need to separate raw foods from other food products.

Our county leaders should consider how they would enforce that last one — requiring users to obey printed instructions and requiring whose who pack groceries to separate certain foods.

Susanne Humphrey, Wheaton