Five of the Most Germ-Infested Surfaces You Touch
New York Magazine’s Science of Us has revealed the ‘disgusting’ things we touch every day without realizing it.
Self-checkout screens
Whether we are food-shopping or at an ATM, we are using more and more touch screens in everyday life now. And while they might get a wipe down at the end of the day, it seems unlikely that they’re properly disinfected – much as they might need to be. 50 percent of self-checkout screens are contaminated with fecal matter.
Ground-floor elevator buttons
Every single person who uses the lift in a day will press this button because they need to get to the ground floor to exit the building. A virus that causes cold-like symptoms is especially common on this button.
Re-usable bags
We are now being encouraged to re-use our shopping bags, but they can in fact be major germ-carriers. People rarely clean them, despite the fact that they regularly put raw food in them to carry it back from the supermarket. 99 percent of bags carry bacteria such as coliform and E.coli.
Hand towels
A lot of people don’t wash their hands properly and any lingering bacteria then gets transferred to the towel. And as bacteria grows in moist places, hand towels are the perfect environment for growing even more germs. All towels should be washed every two days.
Coffeepot handles
The first place people go to when they get to work is the coffeepot to get their first caffeine fix. That means that whatever they touched before they got to work, such as the handrails on public transport, is on that handle. 50 percent of coffeepot handles contain coliform bacteria, which is an indicator of fecal matter.
