Everywhere I go I’m constantly thinking about how filthy the things are that I’m surrounded by and touching all day. After a google search of how dirty the bottom of my pocket book was, I began to remember a study I read about earlier relating to ice cubes and toilet water and I figured I would share it with you guys instead.

Going into your favorite fast food joint, perhaps ordering that big mac combo with a large drink, filling it up with some ice and fountain soda and not even thinking about how dirty that ice is, is a common task. Ever think of something being dirtier than the water found in a toilet?! Well, think again, abc News says, “70 percent of the time, ice from fast food restaurants is dirtier than toilet water.”

Jasmine Roberts decided to take on the challenge in her middle school years, she was curious to see the comparison between ice cubes in fast food places and their toilet water. Living in Florida, she collected ice cubes from five fast food places and a sample of toilet water from each. It was noted that all evidence was gathered using sterile tools. After bringing these materials back to the lab at University of Southern Florida, where she was able to get help from people with experience, she was able to determine that 70% of the time the toilet water was cleaner than the ice cubes. E.coli was found on 70% of the ice cubes she tested. How gross!

This experiment can definitely be due to chance, she only tested fast food restaurants in her local area so perhaps there could be extremely clean toilets there or they could have really dirty ice machines, either or. If more studies were done across the nation, then maybe we could say that in most cases, the ice is dirtier than the toilet water. The size being tested makes it hard to say that 70% of fast food restaurants have ice cubes that are dirtier than their toilet water.

Now, this study is not trying to say you should go put toilet water in your drink instead of the ice cubes, it is just a study done to make you aware of what you are putting into your body. This case is most likely accurate because according to abcNews, “Roberts and Katz said that the ice is likely dirtier because machines aren’t cleaned and people use unwashed hands to scoop ice. Toilet water is also surprisingly bacteria-free, because it comes from sanitized city water supplies.”

I still find it hard to believe that toilet water could be cleaner than things you potentially consume. The thought of that makes me cringe, luckily I’m not a big fast food person but next time I go fill my cup up with some ice i’ll be sure to use a small amount. I hope this news alarmed you and the next time you go fill your cup up for a nice cold drink you reconsider your choice!