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Your Hotel Room Isn't the Only Thing That's Filthy
Recently, we mentioned how disgusting hotel rooms are. Guess what? Even though some hotel rooms are laden with E. coli and Enterococci, they aren't nearly as bad as public restrooms. Right? Maybe. But guess what? Public poopers aren't nearly as bad as playgrounds, the farms of the germ world.A team of scientists recently took some very hot showers after spending four years collecting nearly 1,100 samples at places like airports, restaurants, offices and bathrooms. According to them, the most frequently contaminated areas were:
- Playgrounds and day care centers (46 percent of which showed high levels of contamination)
- Public restroom surfaces (25 percent)
- Public transportation handrails and armrests and shopping cart handles (21 percent)
- Escalator handrails (19 percent)
- Vending machine buttons (14 percent)
- Public phones (13 percent)
Fortunately, other studies have confirmed what your mother taught you: WASH YOUR HANDS WITH SOAP AND WATER. Doing this can reduce the risk of illness by about 50 percent. Alternatively, of course, you can carry a portable UV germ killer with you. Dude, whatever, just clean yourself up!
[Photo: ferrous]
Filed under: Business
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Nikki Mar 24th 2007 8:14PM
Carry Germ-X
terry Mar 24th 2007 8:28PM
20 years ago, we didn't know how germy surfaces were. We just touched them and picked up the germs, and then our bodies produced antibodies to fight them. Now that we are so scared of germs, we are trying to kill them all with these stupid antibacterial handwipes, soaps, sprays, and lotions. Guess what this does? (Remember Darwin's Law?) It makes the germs that survive reproduce, and suddenly our world is populated with resistant strains of bacteria. Suddenly people are contracting life-threatening resistant staph in common places.
Germs have always been around. We just didn't know it, or didn't think about it. People need to relax and stop trying to make their kids live in a bubble. Wash often with soap and water, sure. Just don't oversanitize everything!
brandon Mar 24th 2007 9:14PM
there are studies that have been conducted showing that using anti-bacterian hand sanitizer to much WILL be harmful to you. How exactly as stated in above comment...soon your skins natural defenses from common virus's and contaminants fades away till its gone then you are more likely to say, catch a cold.
Matt Mar 24th 2007 9:23PM
Just pay attention the next time you are in a toilet. Just listen to the ratio of toilet flushes to sink and soap usage. I travel constantly on business and have noticed that in most US airports, the ratio is right around 8 toilet flushes to every 1 sink and soap use.
THAT is Disgusting.
angied5460 Mar 24th 2007 9:27PM
This is exactly why I just use soap and water and call it a day. I managed to survive eating dirt, playing on monkey bars and the occasional cold. I don't get sick nearly as often as my other adult friends I think because I use common sense, not obsessed and I keep the windows open to let any airborne germs just blow out the door. If it's that bad, then they shouldn't have any kids.
Michelle Mar 24th 2007 10:37PM
My friends and I always joke we are on the germ program. lol Now we do wash our hands and teach our kids to, but we don't do all that antibacterial stuff and our kids are almost never sick.
360 Mar 26th 2007 11:44AM
Not that I'm bias or racist - I'm Black, so I don't have the power to be a racist - but I honestly noticed that white men (black women tell me it crosses gender lines as well) usually do not wash their hands after urinating. And even more alarming is that in way too many instances I've observed white men not wash their hands even after taking a poop. I mean, damn, when you wipe your butt and in you're in a restaurant or place of business wouldn't want to make sure you weren't walking around with a hand that smells like sh*t? One would think so but go figure. When I have seen white men wash their hands after urination/defecation only a small percentage used soap...it was more like a quick rinse of cold water. LOL...like that's really gonna kill a germ.
To be fair, I've seen black men and other men of color do this too - never observed one not wash their hands after doing #2, that's just me - but the numbers have been substantially lower. Again, I'm not trying to be negative toward my caucasian bretheren/sisters but this is just an observation I've gathered over more than 20 years of going to school, work and being in other public places with different people. Just curious: Is that a cultural difference?
Gina Mar 24th 2007 11:14PM
I don't care how I look to other people. I always use a paper towel to turn on and off the faucets in public bathrooms if they don't have the automatic faucets. I dry my hands with a fresh paper towel and then use that to open the door to get out of the bathroom. I use the sleeve on my tops to push elevator buttons and also to hold the hand rails on escelators. As soon as I get home from grocery shopping I wash my hands and then put everything away and usually end up washing them again. I have hand lotion in pretty much every room of the house because I wash my hands alot. But after getting sick with a super pneumonia bug that lasted 9 months I don't take any chances anymore. That robbed me of almost a whole year of my life and it took months to get my strength back so I don't care what I look like anymore. Call me a germ a phobe.. at least I'm clean and healthy!
Ariel NYC Mar 24th 2007 11:21PM
Back in the day when I was a tot, parents used to keep their kids home from school when they got sick. Now, with single-parent households, or two working parents (who don't have, or can't pay, someone else to babysit a sick kid while they work) so much more prevalent, every place is a day-care drop-off center. Teachers and staff catch viruses and infections like wildfire from the sick kids they can't send home (because no one is there to pick them up or care for them), and many of these kids aren't vaccinated or given flu shots until they're older, despite what medical personnel advise (which is to give infants and toddlers flu shots so they don't get sick). All the soap and water--and germicidal gel or spray--can't defend against that!
Kimberly Mar 24th 2007 11:27PM
This may sound silly. But I still carry anti-bacterial wipes with me because I have 2 toddlers. Now, when I can, I help them wash their hands with plain old soap and water. But there are times when I just can't get them to be still long enough. My mom used them with me and my brother, it didn't kill us. So, I use them with my kids. It's better to do that than to just let them keep putting their little dirty hands in their mouths. I feel like a good balance is the rule. Do not overuse anti bacterial cleansers. Do use soap and water. Common sense will tell you that. Yes, we are nasty beings, so act accordingly.
Carlo Mar 24th 2007 11:56PM
This is exactly WHY I raise holy hell when I see my kids touch the soles of their shoes, particularly after going into PNC Park or Heinz Field's restrooms during a game where there's water, spit, urine, puke, poop flake toilet paper and whatnot on the restroom floors.
Jeannie McCarthy Mar 25th 2007 12:27AM
Being a burse; I am fmiliar with hand washing being one of the best defenses again germs. But in public many people do not do this. However, if a small cheap bottle of germ a side like purell at any check out counter is bought; you will kill Most of the germs on your hands. I often use a hanky from my purse to wipe the hand rail of my buggy.Actually it is a kleenex as hankies cause germs to build up in them!Wlrks Great and cuts disease more than in Half. I can't undrstnd why people don't do these sinple practices! Also after the store I go Directly to the bathroom at home and wash with antibacterial hand soap; again after putting up the products.No telling what is on the canned goods! Simple things to aviod getting sick. Too,,, remember to use lysol or an antibacteria to spray your handles in your home.Habndles are Big culprits!Phone and door handles most people don't even think of!
This is an important subject and the simplest things are often over looked.
Best regards,
Betty from Texas
Brenda Mar 25th 2007 12:43AM
I am somewhat obsessive about cleanliness. More so since having spinal surgery and contracting multiple bacterial infections resulting in two unplanned surgeries. I freely admit I'm a germaphobe. My roommate has nicknamed me "Monk". I amaze myself sometimes with my obsessive behavior. I find myself more aware of possible germs in the places I go. I think the media prey's on people like me. The one commercial that comes to mind is for matresses. They tell you that essentially every year your mattress will gain a LB of bed bugs. The short being that despite my new behaviors I still agree with most of you that using general precautions (soap and warm water) is the best thing you can do.
Lily Mar 25th 2007 12:43AM
I rub soap foam around my hands for abt 20 seconds,soap the tap I'm using, too, than rinse. As well, I use a tissue on door handles, line toilet seats with bathroom paper if no liners are available. Will not use chemical cleaners for any reason. I carry a couple of soapy and a couple of wet paper towels in seperate baggies on plane trips. And, thanks to the good Lord, and common sense, I rarely get sick.
Lily Mar 25th 2007 12:42AM
I rub soap foam around my hands for abt 20 seconds,soap the tap I'm using, too, than rinse. As well, I use a tissue on door handles, line toilet seats with bathroom paper if no liners are available. Will not use chemical cleaners for any reason. I carry a couple of soapy and a couple of wet paper towels in seperate baggies on plane trips. And, thanks to the good Lord, and common sense, I rarely get sick.
Tom Mar 25th 2007 1:09AM
Cleaniness is always the best route, but I know people that are always dirty, seldom wash their hands,wear the same clothes for a week, don't know what a toothe brush is and they never get sick.
Helen Mar 25th 2007 1:23AM
If we are exposed to germs and survive when we are small, doesn't it make our immune system stronger as adults? Do we want our children to grow up in a bubble? We shouldn't go beyond washing our hands coming in from playing outside. Germs are part of our natural world, we have evolved over thousands of years to keep them in check.
Pat Martino Mar 25th 2007 1:36AM
I constantly wash my hands and carry anti-bacterial wipes. I wipe down gym equipment prior to using it and use hand gel on my hands after using equipment. I try not to touch public surfaces, but that is practically an impossibility, so I touch as little as possible. Keep the animals away from me. They are filthy creatures. Of course, so are children. But children, I tolerate and attempt to teach them cleanliness.
Ariel Mar 25th 2007 1:46AM
I think some animals are far more educable than either human adults or children.
Cheekymonkey Mar 25th 2007 2:09AM
I work in retail and am often expected by customers to throw away snotty kleenex, used gum, food wrappers and other trash too disgusting to mention when they come into my shop. What makes them think that I want to handle their germs and why do these morons get offended when I nicely direct them to the wastebasket around the end of the counter? People are pigs.