22 January 2007

The Disgusting Fact:
The Average Mobile Phone
Contains More Bacteria Than A Toilet Seat

Mobile phone retailer Dial-a-Phone conducted the study taking swabs from everyday objects and analyzing the bacteria found on them!? The hypochondriacs among Symbian Freaks should stop reading now although its maybe to late for that :)

The shocking results found that there's more muck on our mobiles than the average door handle, keyboard, and bottom of a shoe or even a toilet seat. Could you believe it!?

The study found that without cleaning and disinfecting your mobile phone and keyboard on a regular basis, more bacteria could spread potentially causing illness.

The research confirmed the presence of skin bacteria including staphylococcus aureus on the phone, keyboard, toilet seat and door handle. The shoe in contrast had bacteria from the soil and air.

Joanne Verran, Professor of Microbiology at Manchester Metropolitan University comments: "Mobile phones, like many everyday objects such a telephones and computer keyboards, harbor bacteria. However, being 'mobile', they are stored in bags or pockets, are handled frequently, and held close to the face. In other words, they come into contact with more parts of our body and a wider range of bacteria than toilet seats!"

"The phones contained more skin bacteria than the any other object; this could be due to the fact that this type of bacteria increases in high temperatures and our phones are perfect for breeding these germs as they're kept warm and cozy in our pockets, handbags and brief cases. These bacteria are toxic to humans, and can cause infections if they have the opportunity to enter the body."

A Dial-a-Phone spokesperson comments: "We take our phones everywhere, being in close contact with our mouths, hands and faces their bound to collect all sorts of nasty germs. The images make look scary but our advice to phone users is to ensure they clean them regularly with an antibacterial wipe!"

So, clean up your cell phones as soon as possible!