Just What Is On Your Phone?

With a lot of media attention going on mobile phones in recent weeks, with the phone hacking scandal, the Blackberry outage, the launch of the iPhone 4S and the ongoing legal battle between Google, Apple and Samsung, mobile phones and smartphones have probably never had more press. But, with so much going on in the industry, and all the attention focused on the information contained inside a phone, a new report has emerged that questions the very basics of phone use and hygiene.

A survey conducted earlier this month by the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine has found that one in six mobile phones in the UK are contaminated with faecal bacteria due to users' poor personal hygiene. The results of the study, which were released in preparation for Global Handwashing Day on October the 15th, also found that 16% of the mobiles they looked at were contaminated with E Coli bacteria, which can cause food poisoning.

The study, which surveyed 390 people in 12 cities, found that while 95% of those questioned claimed to wash their hands after using the toilet, 92% of mobile phones in the study, and the hands of 82% of respondents were found to contain bacteria. The levels of bacteria also varied depending on location, with Birmingham being found to have the highest levels of bacteria-contaminated phones, at 41% while London was found to have the highest number of phones contaminated with E Coli, at 28%.

While this may make for shocking, if not unpleasant reading, the research conducted by the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine shows how the simple act of not washing your hands after going to the toilet can have quite an impact on your health. So make sure you wash and dry your hands thoroughly after using the toilet, after all, nobody wants a dirty phone, do they?