Everybody has a few things that you’re totally grossed out to touch. Your initial thoughts might include the toilet or even worse, baby diapers. You might be surprised to learn that some of the things that we believe to be “clean” aren’t as safe as you might imagine. Bacteria, viruses, and germs are lurking in the most unlikely of places.
Did you know, 75% of people have used their cell phone in the bathroom? What’s worse, 1 in 6 have traces of poop on their phones. Disgusting, I know but I’m not making this up. You can find more disturbing facts about cell phones and the bathroom here.
10 Things You Have to Wash Your Hands After Touching
1. Water Fountain Button
A study conducted by Charles Gerba, Professor of microbiology at the University of Arizona, found that 23% of water fountain buttons reported ATP measurements above 300. ATP, adenosine triphosphate, is a chemical that indicates the presence of bacteria, yeast, or mold. ATP readings above 100 indicate a dirty object while readings of 300+ are labeled filthy. Who’s thirsty?
2. Refrigerator Door Handle
The refrigerator door contains high levels of Entero, indicating that it contains disease causing germs including salmonella. The next time reach for the refrigerator handles, you may experience a funny feeling in your stomach. In one end, out the other.
3. Keyboard
If you’re reading this right now, your hands are probably resting on the keyboard. The average office toilet seat has 49 germs per square inch while the keyboard has, wait for it, 3,925 germs per square inch! Logging off in 3, 2,1!
4. Your Mouth
Did you brush your teeth today? Well you should be fine, right? You know the API measurements that we used in #1. It turns out, your mouth is the foulest of them all recording millions of germs per square inch. The average mouth is home to over 700 species of bacteria. Another reason to wash your hands more often.
5. Washing Machine
The average pair of underwear has 0.1 grams of fecal matter on them. Professor Gerba did a study on washing machines and found coliform bacteria in 60% and E. coli in 10% of washing machines. This means 100 million E. coli bacteria cells are spinning around in your washer every time you start a new load.
6. Hand Soap
Researchers at the University of Arizona took a sample of 132 refillable soap dispensers from various public restrooms and restaurants. The results were eye raising. 23% were contaminated with disease causing pathogens that are potentially harmful. A study on Automatic Faucets demonstrated the contamination of these hands-free bathroom fixtures.
7. Cell Phone
The average cell phone has 25,127 germs per square inch. That’s 6 times worse than the keyboard and 500 times dirtier than the toilet seat. Check out our cool Hand Washing Infographic!
Click to view enhanced image.
8. Money
Money, the thing that everybody craves. You might think we’re making this up but a scientific study found that bills from across the globe contained traces of cocaine; American currency taking the cake. Don’t think using plastic will keep you safe from germs either. 8% of credit/debit cards have as much fecal matter on them as a dirty toilet bowl-enough to make you cringe.
This gives a whole new meaning to the idea of dirty money!
9. Shift Knob
Drivers start your engines! Isla Whitcroft volunteered to have her home tested for germs. Researchers also tested her car and found a high contamination of mold that was invisible to the eye. This finding is attributed to the fact that drivers introduce bacteria to the car’s interior when they seat themselves inside.
10. Beer Pong Balls
Beer pong is all the rage and you may not be too concerned with proper hand-washing techniques when raging at a house party. Students at Clemson University studied beer pong balls at various parties in their area. They found that indoors beer pong balls fared better than outdoors balls which measured up to 3 million contaminants on the surface. Still neither was below acceptable levels. Who’s up next?
Tradewinds Imports.com is an online retailer of upscale bathroom furnishings. We carry a premiere collections from JWH Imports, Ambella, Virtu USA, and Design Element bathroom vanities. Visit Tradewinds Imports today!
About this Post
Cheryl Khan is a contributing author to the Tradewinds Imports Blog. She shares her extensive knowledge of home decor and interior design on various platforms. Her sole mission in life is to help make the world a beautiful place!
