When we think of bacteria-infested things in the household or the office, the toilet bowl is the first thing that comes to our minds. But a new study conducted by researchers from IT training website CBS Nuggets has shown that there are far dirtier items than the toilet bowl in our workplace.
The computer keyboard, which we use for several hours in the office, apparently harbors over 20,000 times more bacteria than the toilet seat. Other items such as your electronic badge, phone, mouse and trackpad are also home to sickness bugs that can cause nasty infections.
Based on a test they carried out on the five common work equipment, the electronic badge was found to have the most with 4,620,000 bacteria per square inch (CFU/sq.in), beating the pet toy 243 times with 19,000 CFU/sq.in.
The computer keyboard, which houses 3,543,000 CFU/sq.in had 20,598 times more bacteria than the toilet seat, which only had 172 CFU/sq.in.
The gadget which we always touch, the mobile phone, had 1,600,082 CFU/sq.in and has 31, 374 times more bacteria than the pen. Meanwhile, the mouse had 1,370,068 CFU/sq.in, which makes it dirtier than the toilet handle which only had 30 CFU/sq.in.
Among the commonly used office equipment, the trackpad proved to have the least with 810 CFU/sq.in. Compared with money which only had 5 CFU/sq.in, the trackpad has 162 times more bacteria than it.
“One important way to combat all these germs is to wash your hands regularly and properly. The CDC calls handwashing a “do-it-yourself” vaccine, which tells you how important it is. To effectively keep bacterial counts low, regularly clean and wipe down gadgets and surfaces,” the CBS Nuggets explained.
--Mini, The Summit Express
 |
| The computer keyboard has over 20,000 times more bacteria than the toilet seat. |
Based on a test they carried out on the five common work equipment, the electronic badge was found to have the most with 4,620,000 bacteria per square inch (CFU/sq.in), beating the pet toy 243 times with 19,000 CFU/sq.in.
The computer keyboard, which houses 3,543,000 CFU/sq.in had 20,598 times more bacteria than the toilet seat, which only had 172 CFU/sq.in.
The gadget which we always touch, the mobile phone, had 1,600,082 CFU/sq.in and has 31, 374 times more bacteria than the pen. Meanwhile, the mouse had 1,370,068 CFU/sq.in, which makes it dirtier than the toilet handle which only had 30 CFU/sq.in.
Among the commonly used office equipment, the trackpad proved to have the least with 810 CFU/sq.in. Compared with money which only had 5 CFU/sq.in, the trackpad has 162 times more bacteria than it.
“One important way to combat all these germs is to wash your hands regularly and properly. The CDC calls handwashing a “do-it-yourself” vaccine, which tells you how important it is. To effectively keep bacterial counts low, regularly clean and wipe down gadgets and surfaces,” the CBS Nuggets explained.
--Mini, The Summit Express
