15 Surprisingly Dirty Objects That You Touch Every Day Every day you touch several unhygienic objects that are infested with germs, both in your house and in public. While you can ensure that these spots in your house get cleaned regularly, you can’t do the same in public. Arm yourself with a bottle of hand sanitizer and wash your hands as many times as you can, especially before and after your meals. Here are some of the spots to look out for, and avoid touching if possible. 1. Kitchen surfaces and appliances Most people tend to think that their toilets are dirty and their kitchens are clean, but in reality it is the opposite. Studies have found that the average kitchen sponge is 2,00,000 times dirtier than the average toilet seat. Since your kitchen is the place where food is cooked, it has the perfect environmental conditions for bacteria to grow as well. Apart from the sponge, almost everything in your kitchen, including the counters, sink, stove, shelves, fridge handles and utensils are susceptible to germs and if you do not clean them thoroughly, they can spread severe infections. 2. Money Currency notes and coins change hands several times a day, accumulating the dirt and bacteria from multiple people’s hands. A study found that a single currency note had 135,000 bacteria on it and another had 126,000. While you cannot avoid handling money, try to hold it in your hands for as little time as possible and wash your hands when you are done. Do not let your kids play with money or put coins in their mouths, for they could easily catch infections and fall sick. 3. Doorknobs Whether they are at home, in the office or in any other public place, doorknobs are hotbeds for germs. They never get dusty so you don’t realise that they need to get cleaned, but in fact several people touch them every day, leaving the dirt from their hands behind on the surface. Make sure that the ones in your home get cleaned as often as possible and try to avoid using the ones in public places, especially in public restrooms. Rather than opening the door by pulling the doorknob, grip a part of the door that is higher and lower than normal, so that fewer people are likely to have touched it. 4. Coffee or vending machine buttons Many offices nowadays come equipped with coffee or tea dispensers and vending machines. You might rethink your snack consumption when you realise how many germs there are on each of the buttons, since several people touch the same buttons every day. If it’s possible, take an antibacterial wet wipe and wipe down the buttons before you use them, or if that might appear a little strange then just sanitise your hands after using the machine – and before you eat your food! 5. ATMs Since ATMs are also public places where several people touch the same buttons every day, they tend to accumulate lots of bacteria. It gets worse. A recent study has shown that ATM buttons are hotbeds for two types of bacteria, called bacillus and pseudomonads, which are known to cause gastrointestinal diseases and diarrhoea. Think back to all the times that you mentally blamed a particular restaurant for giving you food poisoning – it could very well have been the ATM instead. 6. Shopping carts and baskets When you got to the supermarket, beware of the handles on your shopping carts or baskets. Not only do a lot of people touch them, they also come in contact with produce and other groceries and accumulate a lot of bacteria that way. If you only need a few things, try taking your own bag to carry around otherwise sanitise your hands once you’re done shopping. 7. Light switches Like doorknobs and other buttons, switches are rarely cleaned. Actually, they end up collecting several hundred bacteria per square inch since they can go for years without being wiped down. This makes them a common contact point from where germs are swapped, especially in offices and other public areas. 8. Remote control It doesn’t occur to most people to clean their remote controls, since they don’t realise that they are dirty. In fact, the buttons are touched over and over by all the people living in the house and the crevices in between collect unhealthy amounts of dust, dirt and germs. While you can still choose to start cleaning the remote you have at home, watch out for the ones in public places. 9. Cell phone You touch your cell phone several times a day, transferring the bacteria from your hands to the keys and the screen. When you speak on it, hundreds of germs from your mouth get transferred to the surface of the phone and its crevices. Additionally, your cell phone tends to be warm, making it the perfect place for these bacteria to grow and multiply. All of these factors combined make your cell phone a major health hazard, which can put you at risk to anything from a skin infection to meningitis. 10. Bathroom floor Most people do not actually scrub their bathroom floors, assuming that if they shower there every day then the soap and water will ensure that it is clean. In reality, unless you clean it once a week, whatever is lingering there could be harmful to you. Several people have contracted staph infections, pneuomonia, septicimia, and urinary tract infections just from having unclean bathroom floors. 11. Elevator buttons Illnesses spread through offices like wildfire, since the enclosed spaces and air that gets circulated over and over cause germs to spread incredibly quickly. Another contributing factor are the elevator buttons, for while light switches are switched on merely a few times a day, elevator buttons are pressed several times a day. So if a person with a throat infection presses a button and you get on five minutes later and press the same button, you are very likely to catch the same infection. 12. Keyboard You computer keyboard is infested with germs, to the extent that your office computer keyboard could have more germs than your office toilet. If you haven’t cleaned your keyboard in a while, then typing on it is equal to running your hand down the toilet bowl, except the toilet bowl is probably cleaner since it gets flushed with water several times a day. Make it a point to spray your computer with antibacterial cleaner and wipe it down at least once a week. 13. Escalator rails We love holding on to the escalator rail as we zip up and down. Children especially look at the trip as a joyride and cling on to the rails while they play their games. Unfortunately, escalator rails are rarely cleaned, and are home to several types of germs and bacteria. Try to avoid touching them as much as possible, and sanitise your hands as soon as you are done. 14. Microwave Even if you clean your microwave at home regularly (which most people don’t) how often is the microwave in your office cleaned? Food is spilled on the surface on a regular basis, and the high temperatures make it a great place for bacteria to flourish. Even if it is wiped down from time to time it is not necessarily clean, since it would take a vigorous scrubbing to remove all the traces of grease. 15. Toilet seat While a lot of the objects on this list seem to have many more germs than a toilet seat, this list would be incomplete without it. In public restrooms especially, where several people defecate multiple times a day, fecal matter lingers on the toilet seat in addition to hundreds of other contagions. Try to avoid public restrooms that are not maintained regularly, and even in ones that are, make sure that you wash your hands thoroughly every time you are done using the bathroom. https://facebook/groups/Health4Humanity.ICBC/ H.E. Mahbub-E-Khoda Rumi, ICBC Ambassador & Health4Humanity Activist, IFBC Bangladesh Blue Crescent Society.
Posted on: Wed, 08 Oct 2014 11:30:53 +0000
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