Dirty and bacteria lurk in the most unthinking places: in our homes, in the offices, in the common products products we surround ourselves. And it is not necessary to be a clean maniacs in order not to want to handle objects contaminated with molds, microorganisms of all kinds, and even fecal bacteria. Still, that’s what happens every day. Because often, we said it, dirt is lurking on surfaces that we tend to consider absolutely clean: an example above all, the sponges to wash the dishes, constantly in contact with soap, in which instead – Matteo Bassetti, director of the infectiousness department at San Martino in Genoa, said more bacteria than those we would find by analyzing the human feces. And it is not the only surprise that awaits us, if you start testing objects and surfaces that surround us. Some examples?
The smartphone
There is an object that in the modern world we have perpetually in hand: the smartphone. It is surprisingly – or perhaps not given the ubiquitous use we make of it – it is an authentic receptacle of bacteria. Estonian research has leagged the microbiota on the phones of 27 high school students, revealing an average of forming units (or CFU, a measure of the number of vital bacteria and capable of reproducing present) comparable to what is normally found on the home toilet tablet. The comparison is not accidental: many use the smartphone to kill time while you go to body, and it should not surprise that bacteria like bacteria have been found in the studio on children’s phones Enterococcus Faecalis And Escherichia colitypical of the microbiota of the feces. Next to these, also potentially pathogenic bacteria such as aureus staphylococcus e Pseudomonas. The solution in this case is simple: a daily clean to our smartphone with alcohol or disinfectant detergents solves the root problem. Too bad that few probably follow this routine.
Toothbrush
Another unsuspected object of home is hiding on the bathroom sink. It is the place where we put one of the most intimate tools of our daily routine: the toothbrush. The object that we would always like to imagine immaculate, since we put it in the mouth three times a day, and that instead we often put in one of the dirty places at home. The toothbrush holder is a container that remains humid all day, and that not everyone remembers cleaning every day, and this makes it the perfect environment for the proliferation of bacteria. Not surprisingly, a study by the National Health Foundation (NSF) cataloged the brush door in third place in the list of objects with greater bacterial contamination in the American average house, immediately behind the kitchen sink, and of the leaders sponge for the dishes.
The tap knob
Another obvious object, but to which many do not think, is the tap of the bathroom tap. We tend to touch it with dirty hands – not surprisingly, we open the water to clean them – and even if at home we certainly pay attention to clean it often, it does not always seem enough. In fact, the search for NSF positions the handles of the bathroom sink in sixth place, with bacterial concentrations 100 times higher than those found on the toilet tablet. The solution? Also in this case it is simple: a little more attention to cleaning and often disinfecting the handles of our sink.
The secrets of the kitchen
The kitchen is another of the places of our house that we would like to imagine immaculate, since it is here that we prepare the food for us and our loved ones. But it is also one of the places where the dirt is generated: raw food genres are handled there, they inevitably leave the residues of food and organic material around. And cleaning are not always accurate as we would like. Three objects are noticed in the NSF ranking. The cutting board, kitchen tool that comes into contact with all the foods we prepare, raw or cooked. And which on average hides more bacteria than those who nest on the (now famous) toilet of the toilet. Just above the standings, at the number nine position, we find the oven handle. And to precede it, with a considerable detachment in terms of bacterial concentrations, the top of our cuisine.
The keys of the house
Finally, another object that we always carry with us, and that should be obvious to consider dirty, but it is not always the case. The keys of the house: we rest them on tables and empties pockets, we bring them to the pocket, in the bag or backpack, we handle them with the dirty hands of anything, and probably nobody has ever thought about giving him a nice wash. Not surprisingly, the analyzes of NSF demonstrate an average of about 20 CFU per square centimeter, twice higher than the levels that are found on the screens of smartphones, or on the toilet tablet.