Positive tests on 'stains of concern' at 11 Minneapolis adult businesses

A concern over cleanliness at adult entertainment businesses in Minneapolis prompted the city’s health department to do a sweep for what they call "stains of concern." City environmental health director Dan Huff told a city council committee on Monday that tests at 11 of 17 businesses found semen.

“The clubs that have these private spaces, or semi-private spaces, are the ones where we found the most examples of both the visual and the confirmatory tests of visually infectious material,” Huff said.

Huff said the city will re-inspect businesses to make sure they're keeping up with cleanliness standards. OSHA considers any bodily fluid potentially infectious material.

The Minneapolis Health Department tests found evidence of bodily fluids at the following establishments: Brass Rail, Choice, Dream Girls, Déjà vu, Downtown Cabaret, Gay 90s, Hennepin Avenue Adult Boutique Lickety Split, PYRMD, Spearmint Rhino, Sex World.

Inspectors used performed “presumptive visual tests” of areas within the establishments, using standard white light, black light, and 455nm blue light with orange filter goggles.

Cleaning orders were sent to the businesses with positive tests, and follow-up inspections will be conducted.

City’s recommendations for prevention: “Currently, in Minneapolis, we have evidence of beds, sofas, and curtains with semen on them in adult entertainment establishments’ private or VIP spaces. There is a continuum of efforts in this area, put in place to protect both entertainers/workers and the public. It would be best if semen contamination was prevented in the first place. This can be handled using work practice controls or engineering controls. At a minimum, the cloth surfaces all need to be cleaned as soon as contamination occurs. A universally recommended course of action would be to ensure that the surface upon which a 10 contamination is reasonably expected to occur is easy to clean using the aforementioned cleaning solution. Based on the findings of the March 2017 inspection, this particular contamination would reasonably be expected to occur again unless work practice controls or engineering controls are put into place.”

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