Most people take their smartphone with them into the bathroom for granted. A hygiene expert explains why you should never do that.
While we shower, we listen to music on our smartphones, on the toilet we check the latest WhatsApp messages and while brushing our teeth we click through the latest news: for many, the smartphone should not even be missing in the bathroom. However, you should declare the quiet place a restricted area in the future, because it can get pretty gross. Constanze Wendt, a specialist in hygiene and microbiology from the Medical Care Center in Heidelberg, explains to TECHBOOK why this is so.
bacteria and germs
Lots of water and dirt particles are lurking in the bathroom, floating and dispersing in the air. “In our bathroom are the germs and bacteria that are in our intestines and on our skin,” explains hygiene expert Constanze Wendt. If the smartphone is in the bathroom, it is precisely these bacteria that can settle on the device. This can be bacteria like E. coli, which come from our intestines. “If you have E. coli on your hands and then pick up your cell phone, these bacteria are on the smartphone,” says Wendt.
Bacteria and germs can make us sick – so is it dangerous to take your smartphone into the bathroom? “We have ten times more bacteria on our skin than our body has cells,” says Wendt. Therefore, bacteria per se are not dangerous for us, they are even part of our body.
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Be careful what you touch
But: Whenever we check our smartphone for new messages, we also touch the display – along with all the bacteria that live on it. Especially if smartphone users do not wash their hands after using the toilet and touch their cell phone, these bacteria also stick to the screen. “It’s not a health hazard, but it’s disgusting,” says Wendt. The risk does not increase in public toilets. However, caution should be exercised in public toilets in the hospital. “There can be resistant germs there,” warns the expert. This can actually have serious health consequences on the body.
Read from our colleagues at FITBOOK: Are there dangerous germs in water dispensers?
The problem with smartphones in the bathroom is generally not the smartphone itself, but a lack of hygiene. “Washing your hands is the best way to fight germs and bacteria,” says Wendt. Therefore, as in many other life situations, the following should apply: Wash your hands regularly and thoroughly! Then you can continue to touch your mobile phone without hesitation, without any disgust factor.