Mobile phones have more germs than toilet flushes
You may not realise it but the mobile phone you hold in your hand every day has 18 times more potentially harmful germs than you would find on the flush handle of a loo in a men's toilet, research from Which? consumer group revealed.
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The study took swabs and analysis from 30 different handsets and found that seven of those had high or warning levels of environment bacteria on them.
The findings imply that most mobile phones in the UK have bacteria levels that exceed the acceptable amount and although they may not all be harmful, it indicates poor hygiene and could encourage further breeding of germs.
Hygiene expert Jim Francis told Which?: "The levels of potentially harmful bacteria on one mobile were off the scale. That phone needs sterilising."
This particular handset had several serious forms of bacteria on it including faecal coliforms and enterobacteria that could potentially give a nasty stomach illness such as Salmonella to anyone that handled it.
Which? researcher Ceri Stanaway said: "Most phones didn't have any immediately harmful bacteria that would make you sick straight away but they were grubbier than they could be.
"The bugs can end up on your hands which is a breeding ground and be passed back to your phone. They can be transferred back and forth and eventually you could catch something nasty.
"What this shows is how easy it is to come into contact with bacteria. People see toilet flushes as being something dirty to touch but they have less bacteria than phones.
"People need to be mindful of that by observing good hygiene themselves and among others who they pass the phone to when looking at photos, for example."
Do you keep your mobile phone clean and germ-free? Leave a comment and share your thoughts.
