There can be 200 times more bacteria on the cutting board than on the toilet seat. Which does not mean that the latter should be cut, informs the BBC News service.
Dr. Chuck Gerba, professor of microbiology at the University of Arizona, studies disease transmission in the environment. Among other things, it takes swabs from everyday objects and checks how many and what bacteria can be found on them. It is especially about fecal bacteria – such as Escherichia coli or Staphylococcus aureus.
The toilet is the benchmark in this area. Gerba’s research has shown that there are about 6,54 bacteria per square inch (50 square centimeters) of the average toilet seat. Paradoxically, this makes the toilet seat one of the cleanest things in our environment.
As reported by the New York Post, the average cell phone is just as dirty. Keyboards in London offices were five times dirtier, according to the Daily Mail. Which is not a record anyway – USA Today informed about keyboards 200 times dirtier than toilet seats.
Also, the average cutting board has about 200 times more fecal bacteria than the toilet seat. As Gerba explains, they usually do not come from our faeces, but from raw meat or animal guts. The scientist admits that slicing on the toilet seat might seem more hygienic, but rather recommends cleaning the cutting board with a similar commitment as we do with the toilet seat.
However, the dirtiest item in our homes is a dishwashing cloth (or sponge). A square inch of a sponge is inhabited by as many as 10 million bacteria, while an inch of a cloth is inhabited by a million germs. In other words, a kitchen sponge dishwasher is 200 times dirtier than a toilet seat, and a cloth – 000 times more dirty.
Such proportions have been confirmed by research conducted in nine countries by prof. John Oxford of the University of London – the kitchen dishwasher is always the dirtiest item in the home. The study included 180 homes in Australia, Canada, Germany, India, Malaysia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Great Britain and the USA. In the countries studied, different sites have different levels of bacteria. And so we can find the dirtiest refrigerators in Saudi Arabia (95% have unacceptably high levels of E. coli). In South Africa, the seals in the bathroom are particularly dirty – 2/3 has too much E. coli and 40 percent is too much – too much mold.
An average of 36 percent. kitchen towels proved too dirty. On the other hand, prams were the cleanest – only 6 percent. cases, the degree of soiling was above the norm. The research showed that Australia and Canada were the cleanest, while India and Malaysia were the worst.
It is dirty not only in the houses. For example, the average desk is 400 times dirtier than the toilet seat. Telephone headsets are also usually not cleaned. Shopping carts are very dirty and fecal bacteria can be found on half of the reusable shopping bags. There are people whose shopping bag is dirtier than underwear (after all, underwear is changed and washed).
Faecal bacteria can also be found on our hands – in some cases there are as many as on a toilet bowl. Hand washing is still not widespread, according to a British study (PAP).
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