Wash Your Smartphone!

Every few years, we are treated to a story that sums up how filthy we are as human beings. Whether we are transferring E. coli via fecal matter to hotel room remote controls, or we are inserting our staph-infection laced fingers into bowling ball-holes, one thing is certain: We are disgusting!

And, if you think that is where the horror ends, you are mistaken.

The majority of us are creating another frightening bacteria situation with our most constant companion: our smartphones.

Long gone are the days when a book or a newspaper would suffice as reading material for a restroom visit. Want to read a book, a newspaper, check stocks, scan social media? You can do that on the conveniently-sized device in your hand, all from the comfort of your…toilet.

While you might diligently wash your hands once you have finished your business, are you also washing the phone that you just used?

Some findings about smartphones: One in six phones carries trace amounts of fecal matter; the bacteria found on one phone has 18 times more harmful bacteria on it than a public restroom handle and 10 times the bacteria than can be found on a public restroom toilet seat.

So, to answer the previous question: no. We are not washing our smartphones. Instead, every surface we have touched, both before and after washing our hands, has been transferred onto our phones.

Some of the bacteria found on lab-tested smartphones include E. coli, MRSA, and flu-causing bacteria. Although those were extreme cases, some of the more common bacteria found were those that might cause pink eye, acne, yeast infections, skin rashes, and bloodstream illnesses.

If we are exposed to all of these bacteria, then why don’t we get the corresponding illnesses more often? While most of us are immune to our own collective cocktail of bacteria, our bacteria might prove harmful to someone borrowing our phone or simply scrolling through our pictures.

Why are cell phones such a hotbed of bacterial activity? Smartphones are warm and typically enclosed in a dark place (i.e., your pants’ pocket, a purse, a case). All prime conditions for breeding dangerous bacteria.

By bringing your phone into the bathroom, you are inviting danger. Seemingly, your phone is in the most danger in public restrooms where the industrial flush of a toilet results in the spraying of fecal-matter plumes as high as 15 feet. Most bathroom surfaces have a minute layer of fecal-matter residue. Just setting your phone down on a nearby surface isn’t being cautious enough.

So the takeaway here is pretty clear: Don’t bring your phone into the bathroom!

But for those of you satisfied with maintaining a surface of your personal germ cocktail on your phone, please consider wiping it down with an alcohol pad once you have left the bathroom. Or, perhaps, don’t be so eager to share your pictures with us.

Do you (gasp) bring your smartphone in the bathroom? Do you have a method for cleaning your phone? Did I write “fecal matter” too much in this blog?