Mobile phones dirtier than flush handle in men’s toilet—study

For the study, a thorough analysis of 30 mobile handsets was conducted by a team of British researchers.

Revelations of the study
Out of the 30 phones, seven were classified as dirty, i.e., they had high levels of environmental bacteria or Aerobic Heterotrophic Bacteria (TVC).

They had alarmingly high levels of environmental bacteria, which can be highly injurious to humans. One of them even contained faecal coliforms, which can pose serious stomach problems to its user.

"The levels of potentially harmful bacteria on one mobile were off the scale," said UK hygiene expert Jim Francis. "That phone needs sterilising."

It contained almost ten times the acceptable level of TVC, while another had 39 times the acceptable level of enterobacteria, which are a group of bacteria that live in the lower intestines of humans and animals and include bugs such as Salmonella.

Food poisoning bugs e.coli and staphylococcus aureus were some of the common microbes recovered from the phones.

Though some of the phones did not contain unacceptable levels of germs on them, they were still very grubby and dirty.

Germs easily transferred in mobiles
The tests conducted by the team showed how easily bacteria could linger on the surface of a phone and be passed on to those who held the handset.

Phones should be cleaned regularly with an alcohol wipe and should not be handed over to unhygienic people in order to prevent the germs.

"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," a magazine editor Ceri Stanaway said.

Previous studies have reported that electronic goods like a computer keyboard or a mouse can be more unhygienic than a lavatory seat.

"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,” the team said.