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Your Smartphone Is Grosser Than You Could Possibly Imagine

You know they’re dirty. The question is: How dirty? Turns out, the average smartphone is about as filthy as a public restroom.

Few of our day-to-day items come into contact with the sheer number of microorganisms — that includes bacteria, microbes, fungi, and viruses — that smartphones do. Other tech accessories — including tablets, earpieces, and laptops — likely don’t get quite as much mileage. (But that doesn’t mean they’re not smothered in germs, too.)

The reality is that if your smartphone weren’t an electronic device, you’d probably wash it all the time. After all, you wouldn’t just not wash your clothes, dishes, towels, or bedding. Smartphones are used just as frequently; collectively, Americans touch their smartphones about 8 billion times per day. They’re regularly smeared with germs, sweat, saliva, and oils. But they’re rarely cleaned.

Either way, you’ve probably guessed that your tech devices are kind of dirty. The question is: How dirty?

Dr. Robert Lahita, the Chairmain of Medicine at Newark Beth Israel Medical Center called the average smartphone a “sewer of contamination.” We think that pretty much sums it up.

If you’re still not convinced, BuzzFeed recently published the findings of a random smartphone swab. Of the 20 phones tested, all contained the harmless bacteria typically found in the nose, mouth, and on the skin.

More worrisome was the fact that the some of the phones tested positive for pathogens such as MRSA, an antibiotic-resistant bacteria known to cause serious infections and even death in vulnerable populations.

Other phones tested positive for Staphylococcus aureus, the pathogenic bacteria behind what is commonly known as a staph infection. Known to thrive in community bathrooms, locker room showers, and subway door handles, Staph aureus can cause serious infections, including toxic shock syndrome, boils, and food poisoning.

E. coli was also found lurking on some of the phones. Though strains of this infamous fecal organism can be found in the guts of most healthy people, some strains can cause diarrhea, vomiting, abdominal cramps, and in severe cases, death.

Microbiology researcher Dr. Susan Whittier concluded that the E. coli is likely from stool, otherwise known as poop. (Do you really need another reason not to bring your phone into the bathroom with you?)

Statistically speaking, you’re probably not going to die from your phone. But since the germs on your phone are especially likely to come into close proximity to your hands, nose, eyes, and mouth, they might get you sick.

Here’s How to Minimize the Grossness:

• Disinfect on the daily.

Keep your phone from becoming a germ farm by cleaning it with a disinfectant wipe. During flu season, cleaning it more often can minimize your risk of getting sick. Yes, your phone will become dirty as soon as you touch it again, but on the whole, cleaning it helps.

Wash your hands after you go to the bathroom.

Mom’s advice wasn’t so far off here. If you don’t wash your hands, you’re putting yourself and others at risk of getting sick.

Don’t use your phone in the bathroom.

We all love a good scroll on the John. But it could mean you have feces on your phone. Worth it? Probably not.

Don’t touch your phone while you eat.

Phones and food don’t mix. Period.

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