The Wall Street Journal tested eight “randomly selected phones” for traces of various kinds of bacteria and then published their findings.
“The phones showed no signs of E. coli or staphylococci bacteria. But all phones showed abnormally high numbers of coliforms, a bacteria indicating fecal contamination. Of the eight phones tested by HML Labs of Muncie, Ind., there were between about 2,700 and 4,200 units of coliform bacteria. In drinking water, the limit is less than 1 unit per 100 ml of water.”
-Wall Street Journal
The Wall Street Journal isn’t the only one taking part in these types of experiments. A recent study by Stanford University proved your smartphone is filthier than a public toilet seat, something to think about next time you “slide to unlock” your iPhone. This bacteria count isn’t only found on iPhones but is also found on all smartphones…even tablets.
Several studies over the last few years have shown cellphones harbor one of the most active breeding grounds for germs that you’ll come in contact with on a day-to-day basis. Forget doorknobs, grocery baskets and the bottom on your shoes — Public enemy number one is sitting in your pocket, most likely increasing its numbers of pathogens at this very moment. One recent study* even found that “1-in-6 cellphones are contaminated with fecal matter.”
That’s right. Your smartphone is covered in microscopic pieces of poop. What’s worse is that the phone picks up those tiny bits of excrement from other things you’re putting in your hands or against your face. (You almost forgot that you put your phone on your face, didn’t you?) What’s even worse than that, though, is that doctors say it’s a health hazard. People are just as likely to get sick from their phones as from handles of the bathroom,” a doctor from the American Academy of Family Physicians told The Journal. “These are the unintended consequences of new technology that we haven’t seen before so we don’t know all the risks yet.”
Your iPhone or Droid, especially its display, is a germ magnet, collecting newcomers every time you touch something and then handle your phone, easily transferring them to your fingertips. So, every time you place your device next to your mouth you’re risking adding millions of germs to your face. Add to that a study from the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine in 2010 that said the average handset carries 18 times more potentially harmful germs than a flush handle on a men’s public toilet.
Pretty wild huh? My mind is racing knowing the fact that my iPhone is indeed a bacteria beach party.
So now that I totally grossed you out, how do you avoid getting sick from your own phone?
There are actually wipes designed for your electronic devices that claim to kill 99.9% of bacteria while not damaging your devices.
You should wash your phone as you wash your hands (not physically under water of course, but with the wipes), or at least at the end of the day before you return home from a long day at the workplace.
Of course good hand washing habits will limit the amount of germs you transmit to your phone but they will always be around waiting to hitch a ride to the next germ-a-thon.
Our technicians even have hand sanitizer at each work station utilizing the solution after every iPhone and iPad repair.
Rest assured we will return your device with a smaller amount of bacteria than when you dropped it off.