While health concerns regarding cell phones usually focus on the distraction they can cause while driving, the possible effects of radiofrequency exposure, or just how addictive they can be, the microbial infection risk of your phone is much less appreciated \u2013 but it\u2019s very real.<\/p>\n
We carry them everywhere, take them to bed, to the bathroom, and for many people, they\u2019re the first thing they see in the morning \u2013 more than 90% of the world owns or uses a mobile phone, and many of us couldn\u2019t manage without one.<\/p>\n
A 2019 survey<\/a> found that most people in the UK use their phones on the toilet. So it\u2019s unsurprising that studies have found our mobile phones to be dirtier than toilet seats.<\/p>\n We give our phones to children to play with (who aren\u2019t exactly well-known for their hygiene), and we also eat while using our phones and put them down on all sorts of dirty surfaces. All of which can transfer microbes onto your cellphone along with food deposits for those microbes to eat.<\/p>\n It\u2019s been estimated that people touch their phones hundreds, if not thousands of times daily. And while many of us wash our hands regularly after going to the bathroom, cooking, cleaning, or gardening, we are much less likely to consider washing our hands after touching our phones.<\/p>\n Given how disgusting and germ-infested phones can be, maybe it\u2019s time to think more about mobile phone hygiene.<\/p>\n Germs, bacteria, viruses<\/strong><\/p>\n Hands pick up bacteria and viruses all the time and are recognised as a route for acquiring infection. So too, are the phones we touch. Several studies<\/a> on the microbiological colonisation of mobile phones show that they can be contaminated with many different potentially pathogenic bacteria.<\/p>\n These include the diarrhoea-inducing E. coli and the skin-infecting Staphylococcus, as well as Actinobacteria, which can cause tuberculosis and diphtheria, Citrobacter, which can lead to painful urinary tract infections; and Enterococcus, which is known to cause meningitis.<\/p>\n Klebsiella, Micrococcus, Proteus, Pseudomonas and Streptococcus have also been found on phones, and all can have equally nasty effects on humans.<\/p>\n Research has found that many pathogens on phones are often antibiotic resistant, meaning they can\u2019t be treated with conventional drugs. This is worrying as these bacteria can cause skin, gut and respiratory infections that can be life-threatening.<\/p>\n Research<\/a> has also found that even if you clean your phone with antibacterial wipes or alcohol, microorganisms can still recolonise it, indicating that sanitisation must be a regular process.<\/p>\n Phones contain plastic which can harbour and transmit viruses, some of which (the common cold virus) can live on hard plastic surfaces for up to a week.<\/p>\n Other viruses such as COVID-19, rotavirus (a highly infectious stomach bug that typically affects babies and young children), influenza and norovirus \u2013 which can cause serious respiratory and gut infections \u2013 can persist for several days.<\/p>\n