May 2, 2008...4:32 pm
Germ Alert!
A study conducted by Peter Wilson a microbiologist at University College London Hospital shows that office computer keyboards can harbour five times the amount of bacteria as toilet seats. According to a BBC report-Telephones, harbour up to 25,127 germs per square inch, keyboards 3,295 and computer mice 1,676. The report says -Microbiologist Dr Charles Gerba, of the University of Arizona, carried out a research. The study found that bacteria levels increased during the day. Food spills are one of the reasons because cleaning of keyboards and phones is not a priority. People eating at their desks and dropping crumbs are responsible for this contamination. Food particles lodge between keys and encourage the growth of millions of bacteria. Unclean hands are also responsible for keyboard germs. The surprising part of the study was that women were found to be carrying more germs than men. Women are known to be cleaner than men. The reason was that women keep food in their desks and that encouraged the growth of bacteria. The worst germ offender in the office was men’s wallets. Women fare better on this because they switch their purses regularly.
11 Comments
May 2, 2008 at 5:30 pm
i am washing my hands now
May 2, 2008 at 7:34 pm
Interesting! Iam myself guility of eating at my desk on more than one occassion. But, fortunately, Iam not doing it any more.
May 2, 2008 at 8:03 pm
Prerna: I think this report duplicates or verifies the findings of several earlier results which show similar outcomes. The reportage also said here that on these tools, we find what is in one’s gut and in one’s mouth and nose. Hmm. Some imagery that!
I am also a bit sceptical about women harbouring more germs than men type of reporting. These are correlations found in these particular researches, not truths cast in stone!
A Dettol surface spray ad some time ago used similar data to show how chopping boards harbour more germs than a toilet seat (On a tangent, I think all these experts’ obsession with toilet seats needs a separate, Freudian investigation!)
Those, who regularly clean their houses, know that there is no correlation between visibility of muck/ dirt and the presence of germs.
What surprises me is that little useful advice is forthcoming from Which?, normally very keen to dispense tons of it to consumers.
May 2, 2008 at 9:11 pm
I guess for data-entry operators (and some programmers), it gives new meaning to the phrase “i am sick of typing”
May 2, 2008 at 9:13 pm
I guess for data-entry operators (and some programmers), it gives new meaning to the phrase “i am sick of typing”
May 2, 2008 at 10:28 pm
if ur an indian try inverting ur keyboard and giving it a good pat , ull be amazed at the stuff that gets lodged in
we used to have keyboard cleaning sundays
accumulated 3 or 4 of them opened them up and cleaned them good and left them to dry
May 2, 2008 at 10:29 pm
would the same germ logic apply to
indian hotels and the sauf bowl with the bill
and the peanut bowl in a beer bar?
i think so
May 3, 2008 at 3:08 am
Damn! this post is an eye opener for me
And as somebody said earlier there are fair amount of chances that I get sick of typing
May 3, 2008 at 3:43 am
Computers with many users must be the worse. Don’t bite your nails after going to the Internet Café
May 3, 2008 at 7:27 am
Note that bacteria per unit is in no way a measure of health. Healthy skin is covered in bacteria. Yogurt is active, living bacteria in milk fat. As far as health, it is the species and not the density that matters.
May 3, 2008 at 12:56 pm
Thank God, I never eat at my desk.
I am always afraid of spilling the coffee on my keyboard. 
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