Eat Your Lunch Off the Toilet Seat Or the Desk?
By John Reggars

According to a recent US study that tested various surfaces for bacteria, including streptococcus, salmonella and Escherichia coli, the toilet seat had less bacteria per square inch that the office desk.

Researchers tested a total of 7,000 samples and found that toilet seats harbored far less bacteria than desks, keyboards, the microwave handles and telephone handsets, with the handset being the most contaminated surface.

Per square inch, the telephone handset contained on average 25127 bacteria, the desktop 20,961 and the toilet seat only 69 bacteria.

As the researchers pointed out “We don’t think twice about eating at our desks, even though the average desk has 100 times more bacteria than a kitchen table, and 400 times more bacteria than the average toilet.”

Given the number of people chiropractors and osteopaths see on a daily basis and the skin to skin contact involved in the consultation, it would appear clear that there is an extremely high risk of cross-contamination within these health professional offices from hands, telephones, desks etc.

The regular cleaning of these surfaces and washing with antibacterial soaps is imperative if you wish to avoid infecting your patients.

Source: Dr. Charles Gerba, Medical Observer 16th April 2004 page 23.