It rings, it vibrates, it beeps, it lights up, and it is something you carry on you all of the time. If you guessed cell phone, you are right. With a constantly changing world of technology, a cell phone has become a daily necessity. It stores important dates, contacts, and all of your valuable pictures and music. However, have you ever thought about the amount of times that you have put your phone up to your face, near your mouth, or in the palm of your hand? The answer to that is, probably too many times to count. Although cell phones seem like harmless devices, they are actually loaded with germs that can harm your health. In fact, it is estimated that there are about 25,000 germs per square inch of your phone (Boshell). I mean think about it, germs breed in nice warm places and your hand constantly warming your phone makes it an ideal location to reproduce.
The germs found on a cell phone are not harmless either. Actually, the germs on your phone can cause skin infections and rashes like E Coli, Influenza, and MRSA. Those are some pretty nasty germs to be messing around with on a daily basis (Boshell). These germs also thrive on cellular devices because not many people ever take the time to disinfect their phone. It is usually just an item that we take everywhere with us and assume it is as clean as we are when in reality it is one of the dirtiest objects that we touch all day.
Interestingly enough, there is fascinating research that has been done to prove that things cleaner than a cell phone include: dog bowls, door knobs, and even toilet seats. Yes, that is right, toilet seats LINK. It is pretty nasty to think that something we sit on to get rid of waste is cleaner than something we use to take a picture or call a friend.
How many of you take your phone into the bathroom with you? The answer to that is probably a lot. I mean come on who doesn’t like to scroll through the daily twitter feed while sitting on their throne bright and early in the morning? Astonishingly enough, approximately 40% of people take their phone into the bathroom with them. According to a British Study, about 1 in 6 phones are contaminated with fecal matter (Schultz). DISGUSTING! Yet, we all continue to touch our phones like they are our most prized possession. It is pretty gruesome to think that the next time you touch your phone you could actually be touching poop!
Cell phones will still be constantly used despite all of the gross germs living on them, but we should try to disinfect our phones more in order to protect ourselves from the harmful diseases that these germs carry. We need to be aware of where we take our phones and what germs they might pick up from those places. Cell phones are very useful, but the contamination may not be worth it.
Works Cited
Boshell, Patrick. “Your Mobile Phone Is Dirtier Than You Think.” Your Mobile Phone Is Dirtier Than
You Think. N.p., n.d. Web. 02 Sept. 2016.
Schultz, Rachael. “4 Reasons Your Phone Is Teeming With Germs.” Shape Magazine. N.p., 19 Jan.
2015. Web. 02 Sept. 2016.
Photo: http://brazoderm.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/germs-on-cell-phones2.png
Ew! I can’t believe that there are 25,000 germs per square inch of my phone. I would never put my hands all over a toilet seat so now I’m afraid of using my phone! I bet this influences the spread of the “Penn State Plague” because cell phones are so prevalent in our age group. I make sure I always clean off my phone with an alcohol solution after I go to the gym, but after reading this I should be doing it every night. This might even be worth investing in! I liked how you related your blog to something so close and dear to all our hearts because I see more people on their cellphones around campus than people off them. Along with the issue of cellphones being contaminated with germs, I think we as a society would benefit a lot by putting them down every now and then.
Although you make valid points about our phones being germ infested, I don’t think any amount of data would stop human cell phone users cut down the time they spend with their phone, where they bring it, or how often they clean it. If people use their phones that much, how come a doctor has never told a sick patient that they got sick from germs covering the area of their cellphone screen? I feel like people don’t see this as such a big issue, but rather a disturbing fun fact.
Humans actually cannot live without germs, as harmful as they might be or might sound, such as the data you shared above, wether we like it or not, we cannot run from bacteria. It is on our skin, in our bodies, and all over the environment which we surround ourselves at all times. Even though we are familiar with the negative affects of bacteria, bacteria helps our immune system, digestive system, supplies us with vitamins, along with carbon and nitrogen. Just like our phones, we cannot live without bacteria either.