Study Suggest Your Phone Could Be 10x Dirtier Than A Toilet Seat

By Mayukh Saha / Truth Theory

Think of anything, absolutely anything that you use on your body. It either goes for wash afterward or gets thrown or is washed away. Except for your phone. Even when we put it on our sweaty cheek to talk, we never wash our hands before using it or wash the phone. It stays with us, right next to us.

Survey shows that on average a person looks at their phone over 47 times a day. Phones are touched without care about the transmission of germs or microorganisms. Emily Martin, assistant professor of epidemiology at the University of Michigan School of Public Health, believes that because we use our phones without washing out hands all the time, it becomes pretty gross.

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Scientists at the University of Arizona have now found out that on average, the phone of a high school student has around 17,000 bacteria on it- nearly the same as on one’s toilet seat. The human body contains a number of microbes and human skin has oil that is not so easily detected without putting the phone through a microscope.

According to experts, using phones in the toilets is one of the bigger reasons why more harmful germs enter the mix. Taking phones into the bathroom risks getting fecal bacteria on your phone. It is akin to going and using the toilet but not washing your hands afterward.

Even dangerous pathogens like Streptococcus and E. Coli turn up on the phone screen. A sick person, sharing their phone with a healthy person could also lead to the transmission of germs.

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Since washing the phone with detergent is out of the question, it should not mean that phones cannot be properly cleaned. Using microfiber wipes will clean most of the germs off the phone. However, in order to get rid of the more stubborn ones, a mixture of 60 percent water and 40 percent alcohol should take care of it. Along with cleaning your phone a few times every month, it is advisable to develop the habit of washing hands several times a day to ensure that the gems on the phone do not enter our body.

According to Susan Whittier, director of clinical microbiology at New York-Presbyterian and Columbia University Medical Center, our environment is not free of contaminants. It is not sterile. Just being out there is enough to add all kinds of germs and bring them to your home. And that’s not something anyone wants!

IMAGE CREDIT: Sarawut Chainawarat