You read it right, our phones are dirtier than toilet seats. This is nothing new. There have already been a lot of studies and researches regarding this. The phones we carry in our hands are a lot dirtier than an average toilet seat. And maybe you’ll recall that you probably read something like this somewhere. But it didn’t bother you then, and it’s probably not gonna bother you now.
Also Read: Using your phone in the bathroom? It could be getting contaminated with dangerous bacteria!
And what’s with toilet seats, you ask? Well, they seem to be the standard for measuring or comparing anything dirty. Because well, toilets seem to be the dirtiest thing that we know of. But of course, that isn’t true…because, well, read the title again. How is it possible? Because our phones are the most used things every day. What do you touch first when you wake up? Phone. What do you touch last before you sleep? Phone. And what do you take with you when you go to the toilet? Phone…because if you don’t, you’ll end up counting the number of tiles in your bathroom.
Why? Our phones are exposed to a lot of things. Mostly, they come in close physical contact several times a day. Also, we do a lot of things with our hands – open doors, grab the handles on buses, shake hands with others, cover our mouths when sneezing…wipe our poop, you know, the works! And we also use our phones with them. And while we wash our hands, we can’t wash our phones, and neither do we bother to clean them with rubbing alcohol or stuff.
There have been surveys, a lot of them regarding the topic. And studies have found that on average, a toilet seat would have some 220 spots with bacteria, but a phone had over 1400! Yes, even if you have a case on, you will have bacteria…even more so. And it appears leather cases have the worst end of the stick. They were found to be over 15 times dirtier than your toilet seat!
However, the bacteria found in our smartphones don’t seem to be very dangerous. As they’re mostly transferred from our hands, which do regular work, most of the bacteria are from our own bodies. But even though, the bacteria in our smartphones are capable of giving us flu or stomach aches. And while these pathogens are from your own bodies, and might have very less chances of harming you, it is not a good idea to pass around your phones to people. But of course, how would we share those funny memes without doing that?
Anyways, almost all of us don’t really bother to clean our phones. Even just simply wiping down your phone with a microfiber cloth can cut down the amount of bacteria by 40%. And it is advised to clean your phone with a solution of water and rubbing alcohol to get it spick-and-span. But you won’t do that, will you? It’s just too much work. And it has been like this from the very beginning.
Also Read: Toilet papers for cleaning phones: Wipe before you swipe
Similarly to mobile phones, you also know that your keyboards or laptops are also one of the dirtiest things around. And you might clean your keyboards sometimes but don’t bother to that for your phones. So, we’re just gonna be sticking 7 toilet seats on to our faces every day it seems! Take that for perspective.
