Which has more bacteria, your cell phone or a toilet?

You might think that a toilet has got to be way dirtier than your cell phone but you would be wrong. A study has found that our cell phones are filthy and covered in bacteria, way more than a toilet seat!

A study from the University of Arizona concluded that cell phones have up to 10 times more bacteria than toilet seats. But how can that be?

Well, you might not be surprised to discover that survey carried out in 2018 by BankMyCell reported that 75% of people confirm using their cell phone while on the toilet. There is no need to explain much more in this regard.

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To be more specific, scientists from the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine and Queen Mary presented a study in 2011, in which they stated that 16% of phones had a significant load of E. coli.

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E. coli is a bacteria that is a common cause of food poisoning  and it is often found in feces. Yep, basically there is poop on your phone.

It is pretty nasty to think about what is lurking on your phone. Especially since Dscout estimates that a person touches their phone screen an average of 2,617 times a day, double that if they are an intensive user.

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Obviously, among those thousands of human/phone interactions, fingers touch everything and microbes stay stuck to them and later jump to your cell phone.

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And, of course, in general, people clean the toilet far more often than their cell phone. In fact, when was the last time you cleaned your phone properly?

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The best way to clean your phone to best eliminate bacteria is to use wet wipes that contain 70% isopropyl alcohol or a 70% alcohol spray and a microfiber cloth.

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And, beyond E. coli, the collection of bacteria that we can find on any cell phone is, to say the least, alarming.

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Staphylococcus is a bacteria that can cause skin infections almost anywhere on the body.

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Actinobacteria can lead to serious health problems such as diphtheria, tuberculosis or bacterial vaginosis.

Citrobacter is a group of aerobic gram-negative bacilli that are usually found in food, soil, water or the intestinal tract of humans or animals and can cause urinary tract infections, meningitis or sepsis.

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Finally, Enterococcus can cause infections such as meningitis, prostatitis, wound infections, endocarditis or urinary and intra-abdominal infections.

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You might be wondering if all these nasties are hiding out on your phone should you just stop using your cell phone? Well, if you live life like most, that is probably not possible.

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Just make a habit of cleaning your phone from time to time. It is probably also a good idea to stop taking it to the bathroom with you and not use it while eating. These precautions will undoubtedly lower your chances of coming down with something nasty due to touching your filthy phone.

Photo: Freepik