Smartphones display contains more germs than a toilet seat: Report

Smartphones have no doubt gradually become an essential commodity for the users nowadays. The devices are not only used for making calls but also used for many other activities such as surfing the web, watching videos, and playing games among others. It is a common sight nowadays to see the masses holding the smartphone for most of the times. And that could be the case with most of the users; we pick up our smartphones even when we have some free time to spare.

Well, now a new report suggests that the smartphones displays harbor more germs as compared to a toilet seat. Up until now, we knew that the toilet seat are the dirtiest and houses a number of germs which are harmful to the human health, now the new research suggests otherwise.

According to a report from Beebom, there are more than 35 percent of people (approx a third of the population uses their smartphone without cleaning or wiping the display. This study was conducted by Insurance2Go which is a gadget insurance provider based in Portsmouth, England.

According to a report from Sky.com, "The average smartphone screen has been found to be more than three times dirtier than a toilet seat."

The study found that one in 20 smartphone users were found to clean their phones in less than every six months. The researchers had swabbed three smartphones including an iPhone 6, a Samsung Galaxy 8 and a Google Pixel in order to test for aerobic bacteria, mold and yeast.
The tests reveal that all the areas of the smartphones "harbor at least some quantity of each type of substance".

The smartphone displays were the dirtiest part of the phones which contained germs that could give rise to various skin and health-related issues. The displays of all the three smartphones had a total of 254.9 colony-forming units per cm2. This indicated that an average of 84.9 units was present on the display. Whereas, the rear of the smartphones contained an average of 30 units while the lock and home button had an average of 23.8 units and 10.6 units respectively.

Gary Beeston, sales and marketing manager at Insurance2go said, "Our phones are never far from our sides; we take them everywhere with us. Therefore, it's inevitable that they'll pick up a few germs along the way."

Also, approx two in five adults (40 percent) picks up their smartphone within five minutes of waking up, the number increases to 65 percent under the age of 35. Whereas 37 percent of adults check their smartphones before going to the bed which again rises to 60 percent of the users under the age of 35.

These new findings are a bit concerning. Considering the fact that the smartphones screens can make us ill, we should try to clean our smartphones on a regular basis.