Things Germier Than Toilet Seats ....

Things Germier

Than Toilet Seats ....

11 Things

Germier Than Toilet SeatsPeople are

understandably squeamish about public restrooms. But the

same people are probably regularly interacting with surfaces

that have far more germs and overall icky-ness than your

average public toilet seat. For example:

1. Hotel/Motel

BedspreadUnlike the sheets,

hotels and motels do not change or launder the bedspreads on

a daily basis. It's actually more of an annual thing. And if

you don't think there are various bodily fluids lingering in

those coverings, let us remind you that when the bedspread

from an internationally ranked five-star hotel was

introduced as evidence in boxer Mike Tyson's rape trial,

investigators found it coated with the DNA of so many

different men that it took some significant time to finally

isolate traces of Tyson's contribution.

2. Purse BottomsMany women who fear the

germs of public toilet seats don't think twice about placing

their purses down on the floor of the bathroom stall. Not

only that, they also set them on the floor while riding the

bus, or while dining at a restaurant, or while dancing at a

nightclub, or on the bedspread at a hotel (see above). And

then, when they get home, they set that same purse on the

kitchen counter or the dining room table while they rifle

through the daily mail or check their phone messages.



Nelson Laboratories of Salt Lake City tested a random

selection of ladies' purses: those belonging to moms,

executive types, and swinging singles. What did they find?

Pseudomonas, staphylococcus aurous, salmonella, and e-coli.

Many of the handbags had fecal contamination, and those

belonging to the women that frequented dance clubs also had

traces of vomit. In layman's terms, the pocketbooks were

infested with harmful bacteria, the types that can cause all

sorts of infections.

3. ATM KeypadStudies have shown that

the various keys on your average ATM serve as a cozy nesting

place for Bacillus Cereus, a bacterium that can cause

symptoms in humans similar to those of food poisoning. Yet

folks casually punch those buttons and then go about their

business without a second thought, touching their eye area

to assuage an itch or holding the Egg McMuffin that they're

munching during their morning commute.

4. Office

TelephoneHave you ever used a

corporate telephone other than the one on your desk? Who

knows what evils lurk on that communal device - other than

the 25,127 germs found in a square inch on the average

telephone receiver as discovered in a 2004 University of

Arizona study. Think about it - the person who used that

phone before you might not have the same fastidious

hand-washing habits as you, and he/she may have answered a

call immediately upon exiting the bathroom!

5. Restaurant

MenuServers barely have

enough time to take an order from table 11 and then rush to

tables 14 and 17 to deliver that extra side of Ranch

dressing and a round of beverages, respectively. Do we

really expect them to wipe down the restaurant's oft-handled

menus with anti-bacterial wipes in their "spare" time? The

Journal of Medical Virology has reported that flu viruses

can survive on a hard surface for as long as 18 hours. Think

of how many hands have touched that bill of fare before you

browsed over it and then immediately used your fingers to

transport dinner rolls or breadsticks directly to your

mouth.

6. Condiment

ContainersSpeaking of restaurants

and germs living on hard surfaces, how many of you disinfect

your hands in between handling the ketchup bottle or

salt/pepper shakers and your food?

7. Grocery /

Airport Baggage CartsSo you're afraid to set

your naked hindquarters on a toilet seat that is routinely

cleaned with bleach-infused products, but you push a grocery

cart through your local supermarket bare-handed? The handle

of which has been touched by folks who've coughed or sneezed

into their hands and have also handled packages of raw meat?

And those of you who place items in the fold-out children's

seat - does it not occur to you that many a child's diapered

bottom has previously occupied that space? A four-year study

conducted by the University of Arizona at supermarkets in

Tucson, San Francisco, Chicago, and Tampa revealed that

shopping buggies were rife with such bacteria and viruses as

E. Coli, salmonella, and Staphylococcus.

8. Steering

WheelAs mentioned above,

public toilet seats are washed on a regular basis, but when

is the last time you scrubbed down the steering wheel of

your vehicle? During a typical day you might touch things

such as a gas pump dispenser, cash from the bank drive-thru

window, and your crying child's runny nose in the back seat,

and then use those same hands to grip the steering wheel

after every transaction without any disinfecting in between.

Oh, did I mention that some of us also eat food and apply

eye makeup while driving with those same hands that are

gripping the germ-laden (mainly with bacillus cereus and arthrobacter) steering wheel?

9. Kitchen

Faucet Handle(s)Dr. Charles Gerba, an

environmental biologist at the University of Arizona, once

declared that if an alien from another planet landed in an

average Earth household, he would determine (after a careful

bacterial count) that he should wash his hands in the toilet

and use the kitchen sink as a commode. Yep, our kitchen

sponges and faucet handles are that contaminated

with nasties, mainly because we tend to touch these items

many times in the midst of handling raw meat, eggs, and

poultry while preparing a meal.

10. Gym

EquipmentHow many of you who work

out regularly at a gym grip the handrails on the treadmill

or the handlebars on the stationary bike without a second

thought? Or perhaps you grasp a series of different free

weights during your strength-building workout. Odds are that

at sometime during your workout you'll swipe a sweaty fist

across your eyes or scratch an itch some place on your

person (an innocent, unconscious activity that might break

the skin and unintentionally place a virtual welcome mat

inviting infection). You might be interested to know that

the nasty "superbug"methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus

aureus (better known as MRSA), which can survive on

non-host surfaces for up to a month, has been found on

various gym machines in studies done across the U.S. That's

in addition to the sarcinia, candida specie,

and staphylococcus epi that was also harvested from

the various standard gym apparatus. And don't get us started

on what was found on the floorsof the showers!

11. Swings and

Monkey Bars and SuchOK, this particular hotbed

of germs might affect your offspring more than you, but it's

certainly worth a mention, especially if you allow your child to

munch on snacks while they romp. If your child ever frolics on

the monkey bars, jungle gym, swings, ball pit, etc., of a

communal play area, then his hands are a virtual Petri dish of

disgustingness after each and every play date. Besides the

traces of human fecal material found on such equipment in many

studies, there is also the fact that kids with runny noses tend

to use their hands as handkerchiefs while playing, and various

birds in the area use playground equipment as their personal

comfort station.