If Your Mobile Phone Has a Case Read This ASAP!

Mobile phones are seven times dirtier than TOILET SEATS, finds new study (and those with leather cases are even filthier!)

Those in leather cases harbour the most bacteria, but even smartphones in wipe-clean plastic cases have more than six times the germs found on a lavatory seat, shares Daily mail.

Despite this, a survey of office workers found two in five take theirs into the bathroom of their workplace.

Company Initial Washroom Hygiene took swab samples from smartphones using a handheld device which lights up live microbes where they appear on a surface.

A toilet seat scanned this way shows up 220 bright spots where bacteria lurk but the average mobile phone had 1,479.

Professor Hugh Pennington, emeritus professor of bacteriology at the University of Aberdeen, said: ‘Swabbing a smartphone is almost like checking your handkerchief for germs – you are likely to find them because of the close physical contact you have with this device several times a day.

‘There will be norovirus on phones at this time of year but the bugs on smartphones will probably be people’s own bacteria so the likelihood of passing on disease is low.

‘However it might be ill-advised to pass smartphones around between people.’

The latest study looked at 50 phones, recording the highest bacteria reading for a smartphone in a leather case, which was also a wallet, and showed up almost 17 times the amount of bacteria on a toilet seat.

The average for a plastic case was 1,454, which is almost seven times the reading for toilet seat germs.

Experts believe phones become so dirty because they are taken into the bathroom, so are exposed to the same germs as lavatory handles and seats.

A survey of 2,000 people by Initial Washroom Hygiene found 40 per cent of people admitted using their smartphone while in the bathroom at work.

But only 20 per cent cleaned their phone after taking it with them into the toilet.

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33 Comments

- - happymum2018 said
  - 21 May 2019
    6:11 am
This is very shocking and surprising I dont know how they could get so filthy but I knowing this I will have to try and clean my phone more often thanks for this!

- - mom81879 said
  - 17 May 2019
    6:53 pm
I never take my mobile to the toilet. With so many ruined by people dropping them in the toilet, why would you even want to take them to the toilet?!

- - mom81879 said
  - 24 Mar 2019
    7:44 pm
Yeah, nah, not in my case. My phone does not come out in the toilet

- - mom81879 said
  - 02 Jan 2019
    2:30 pm
I fail to see how this could be. I am the only one to handle my mobile phone and I know I’m prettyclean. I carry it around in my bag if I go out. Pretty sure mine is A ok

- - MrsA said
  - 30 Dec 2018
    9:34 pm
I clean mine semi-regularly. I don’t feel a need to be obsessive over it.

- - mom101628 said
  - 25 Dec 2018
    10:23 pm
This makes me even happier that I don’t use my smart phone very often – usually forget it at home most of the time.

- - LuckyMum said
  - 08 Dec 2018
    12:37 am
Ewwww but i suppose it makes perfect sense !

- - littlehandsofmine said
  - 05 Dec 2018
    5:25 pm
This is not hard to believe but I do clean my phone

- - curlytops said
  - 04 Dec 2018
    10:24 pm
taking it into the toilet it disgusting!

- - Blossom said
  - 04 Dec 2018
    7:50 pm
Mine stayed in my bag at work. It was only used for medical emergency calls back then. My Mum was elderly and taken to hospital quite regularly at one stage. When I left I was often asked how I could be contacted. My reply was my home phone when I got home. The response I got was “don’t you have a mobile phone”. That was the only reason I got my original one. Even now I don’t use my mobile phone as much as most people do. It is prepaid $30.00 for 60 days and balance is rolled over. I get free calls and texts to others with the same company as other family members use. I have relatives who live several hours away so one of us calls the other about once a week or fortnight.

- - MuthaNita said
  - 04 Dec 2018
    6:13 pm
And this is why I wipe my phone down with antibacterial wipes weekly. *shudder* why anyone would take their phone into any bathroom with them is beyond me. I don’t even like keeping my toothbrush in mine and it’s spotless.

- - mom112217 said
  - 04 Dec 2018
    2:30 pm
My phone is in my handbag to table,not too many germs!

- - mom338699 said
  - 04 Dec 2018
    9:49 am
This really doesn’t surprise me at all. At the end of the day we all need to be in contact with germs like we did always as we were growing up. We were alway much healthier for it too.

- - mom213573 said
  - 04 Dec 2018
    9:03 am
Never thought too much about it….. but now I am totally grossed out by it :O

- - mom74005 said
  - 04 Dec 2018
    7:43 am
Yep no figure we take the devices with us everywhere we go..

- - mom206279 said
  - 04 Dec 2018
    7:30 am
I’d prefer lots of fairly harmless bacteria than cleaning obsessively and letting the really really nasty bugs have room to grow.

- - mom185490 said
  - 04 Dec 2018
    5:54 am
Eww,i will be sterilizing all the kids devices today.

- - Ellen said
  - 04 Dec 2018
    4:09 am
Aw gross !
I certainly don’t take mine to the toilet, but I have a rubber case. I’m gonna desinfect the case this instant !

- - mom265671 said
  - 03 Dec 2018
    11:59 pm
Great reminder to clean our phones! I feel icky just thinking bout it
- mom93821 replied
  
  04 Dec 2018 , 5:09 am
  I give my phone and keyboard a wipe every day.
- - taynik46 said
  - 03 Dec 2018
    9:36 pm
I have a plastic case but I should probably clean it more regularly – thanks for the article!