An Arizona woman campaigning to raise awareness about the potential griminess of playgrounds at fast-food restaurants has come to Sacramento.

Erin Carr-Jordan has traveled to seven states, spoken to media outlets across the country and started a Facebook group to spread a message that playgrounds – specifically, the big, structural, plastic indoor ones at restaurant chains like Burger King and McDonald's – are full of bacteria that pose a threat to children.

"Bottom line, there are hundreds of thousands of children every day that are getting exposed to this and are getting sick," said the developmental psychologist and mother of four. "And if I could do anything to stop that from happening, I will."

Earlier this summer, Carr-Jordan took swab samples at a McDonald's PlayPlace on Northgate Boulevard.

A laboratory analysis of the samples turned up several types of bacteria including yeast, coliform and bacillus – similar to the results she's found around the rest of the country.

Along with coliform, "bacillus is commonly found in soil and you will find it on people's shoes," said Jemimah Razon of Legend Technical Services Inc., the lab that analyzed the swabs. A second lab analysis also identified staphylococcus, which is typically found on human skin and noses.

Scientists from UC Davis say the findings might sound gross, but they're not dangerous.

"I am very unimpressed with that list of bacteria," said George Thompson, an assistant professor in the departments of Medical Microbiology and Immunology, and Internal Medicine, Division of Infectious Diseases at Davis. "As far as kids getting any infections, I wouldn't have a lot of big concerns."

As she has in other communities, Carr-Jordan took her findings to public health officials.

She'd like to see the state or Sacramento County adopt protocols for restaurants to clean their playgrounds; there currently are none.

The only California law that touches upon the issue states that "all premises of a food facility shall be kept clean, fully operative, and in good repair."

McDonald's officials said in a written statement that PlayPlace cleaning procedures include cleaning the areas daily, and ensuring "that the PlayPlace is free from debris or spills that could pose a hazard."

The corporation also expects employees to pay special attention to areas "that are touched frequently and become soiled quickly," like handrails.

Jake Mossawir, who represents McDonald's franchise owners in the Sacramento area, said, "As far as I know, (play areas are) cleaned daily. Then a professional service comes in once a month to clean it."

The play area at the Northgate McDonald's where Carr-Jordan took her samples in June is under construction for renovations.

In Sacramento County, public health officials regularly inspect restaurants.

"There's not going to be an inspector that's going to look at the playground and do an inspection," said Alicia Enriquez, deputy chief of Sacramento County's environmental health division. "If we were to go in and observe something that was very unsanitary, we would ask them to take care of it. But … the focus of our inspection is food preparation."

On Monday, Xotchilt Vazquez and her three children were having lunch inside a McDonald's PlayPlace on Watt Avenue.

"I'm not one of those overly clean moms," Vazquez said. "I carry hand sanitizer and make sure when we leave here, we wash up and stuff."

She'll often let her children play for two or three hours inside the PlayPlace. "I try to keep them as clean as possible, but you know, they are kids and kids get dirty," she said.

Satya Dandekar, a microbiology professor at UC Davis, also said that coming in contact with germs is normal for kids and in some ways beneficial.

"It's a part of growing up," she said. "Bacteria is everywhere. … Exposure to organisms plays a big role in the education of our immune systems."

Although Vazquez said most of the responsibility falls on the parents, she believed implementing state and county protocols "wouldn't be a bad idea."

In the meantime, Carr-Jordan's crusade continues.

"I don't have to worry about my children," she said. "This is about the other children who go out there and the parents who frequent them."

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