Next time you drop something on the ground, blow (or rinse) it off and go to town! But you may want to think twice before you do any of these common things.

Use an ATM, elevator, or pay phone. A 2004 telephone survey revealed that “Sixty-four percent of the public thought that a public restroom doorknob has more germs than an ATM but — surprise! — ATMs have more germs.” (source)

“Most people consider Port-a-Potties and other public toilets to be the worst places in terms of surface germs. But in reality, they don’t even come close to what you’ll find on ATM machines, phone receivers, and elevator buttons,” he tells WebMD. “That’s because those toilets are cleaned and disinfected regularly. But when was the last time a typical phone or buttons on an ATM machine or elevators were?” (source)

Take a dropped fork or spoon back out of the sink and use without washing it first. “Most people are unaware that the kitchen sink is one of the germiest places in the house; it’s even more contaminated with bacteria than the toilet bowl and garbage can.” (source)

Touch your desk/phone/mouse/keyboard at work. “Desks are really bacteria cafeterias…They’re breakfast buffets, lunch tables and snack bars, as we spend more and more hours at the office. Germ levels on desks could be considered a business liability.” (source)

Eat without washing your hands after paying for your food. “Women frequently place their purses on the floor just about everywhere they go, so we’ve come to think of handbags as walking ‘bag-teria…But seems men may now have a good excuse to think twice before reaching for their wallets.” Men’s wallets were revealed to be four times germier than women’s purses. (source)

Use a shopping cart at the grocery store. “According to a four-year study conducted by the University of Arizona’s Environmental Research Lab and sponsored by Clorox, grocery carts are veritable petri dishes teeming with human saliva, mucus, urine, fecal matter, as well as blood and juices from raw meat.” (source)

Other disgusting surfaces:

• Picnic tables, playgrounds, airport bathrooms, and hotel rooms (source)
• Pens–your own and other people’s (source)
• Kitchen sponges, refrigerators, escalator handrails, and subway turnstiles (source)

The best way to fight back against germs and other disgusting things (Fecal matter on shopping carts? Eww, eww, eww!) is to wash your hands frequently and avoid touching your nose, mouth, and eyes when your hands aren’t sparkling clean so you don’t transmit disgusting nastiness into your body. Can’t get to a sink? Carry a purse-size bottle of hand sanitizer and use it frequently.

Contents © Copyright 2007 Kristen King

Post from: Blisstree

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