What is Digg?76 Comments
- Fatcheeseguy, on 11/26/2007, -0/+47This website infected me with ads.
- Ghoztt, on 11/26/2007, -1/+42People are way too paranoid.
People do not understand the sheer massive amount of bacteria living in their mouth and digestive tract.
Yet people like me, who have been to Third World Countries, and have eaten off of unwashed grills where the meat has been sitting out for who knows how long, hiking through the jungle eating rice and vegetables off of banana leaves and bamboo, understand the common sense in which has eluded so many delusional Americans:
THESE 'GERMS' HAVE BEEN AROUND FOR THOUSANDS OF YEARS. I build up my immune system exposing myself to everyday microbes. You weaken your immune system by being a clean freak. - iwantamonkey, on 11/26/2007, -1/+39Let me be the first to say I've never gotten sick from my undoubtedly germy keyboard/mouse, soap bars, phone, kitchen, bathroom, wet clothes, elevator buttons, atms... You know how I get sick? Sitting in classrooms with no airflow full of coughing people. Working as a cashier. Working with kids.
And fyi I hardly ever use alcohol to clean my hands, don't even have any bleach to clean my house right now, and don't take vitamins.
Strong immune system FTW - Unlegend, on 11/26/2007, -0/+20In summary:
The Germiest Places in America
1. Your kitchen sink
2. Airplane bathrooms
3. A load of wet laundry
4. Public drinking fountains
5. Shopping cart handles
6. ATM buttons
(this is how the numbering continues... 7 and 9 are just skipped, so there are really ten, not twelve)
8. Playgrounds
10. Your bathtub
11. Your office phone
12. Hotel-room remote - WhiskeyLemur, on 06/30/2009, -1/+15"You weaken your immune system by being a clean freak."
Bingo. Which is why many Americans _do_ get sick while traveling abroad - their immune systems have no preparation for dealing with the real world. In case of a zombie apocalypse (or any other, come to that), the population will be wiped out by dysentery long before braaaaains become an issue ;) - emmama, on 11/26/2007, -1/+12This is such a stupid article, I don't know anyone who carries around germicidal wipes... this will turn you into a paranoid idiot.
- arcooke, on 11/26/2007, -0/+11Small and deformed?
- WhiskeyLemur, on 06/30/2009, -1/+12People go way overboard with the flu vaccine and antibiotic binges. If you sterilize your environment, you are responsible for two things: an immune system unprepared for dealing with disease, and bacteria/viruses which are forcibly adapted to resist whatever sterilization methods you use. That's not to say you shouldn't keep clean - just don't be ridiculous about it.
- ForkySpoony, on 11/26/2007, -0/+11This article's instructions to use antibacterial products is completely misguided. The overuse of antibiotics ill cause new strains of germs that are completely impervious to common treatments and antibacterial compounds. Remember how the bottles say "Kills 99.9 %m of germs". Guess what happens to the remaining point one percent. They grow and reproduce a new and stronger strain of germs. Eventually these antibacterial products will only kill 20% and eventually zero.
- duke1981, on 11/26/2007, -3/+13I had pink eye so I touched my eye and then every button in the elevator.
- iloveazngurlzs, on 11/26/2007, -2/+11how did mankind survive without this list?!?!?!?!?!?!?!??!?!?!
and we wonder why are youngsters need flu vaccines - ChromaVita, on 11/26/2007, -2/+1113. Oakland
- greg9683, on 11/26/2007, -0/+8They put 7 with 6 and 9 with 8.
7. Your Handbag
9. Mats and machines at health clubs - Pzycho, on 11/26/2007, -0/+8Yes.
But I got a wrong idea also. I was expecting more along the lines of specific locations. I don't think -my sink- is one of the germiest places in america. One of the germiest places in my daily life... sure. There are, however, probably 12 more germy places on Courtney Love alone. - glinsvad, on 11/26/2007, -1/+9Am I the only one that thought this was "The 12 Germaniest Places in America"?
- bdogm, on 11/26/2007, -0/+8"You have died of dysentery... from zombies."
- Flamekebab, on 11/26/2007, -0/+7Could someone just paste the text here?
There is no bloody way I'm clicking through 12 pages for something like this. - f4nt0m4s, on 11/26/2007, -2/+9I wash my hands after going shopping and working out on public excercise machines/weights. I also avoid public bathroom doors. But then I'm just paranoid. This article is lame because it is going to try to instill fear into the average reader. Oh noez ur remotes haz aidz! zomg.
The germiest places are public places, dorms, offices, classrooms. I had the pleasure of living in a college dorm with maybe 80 other people on my floor. I shared 2 bathrooms with said 80 people. When one person got sick EVERYONE got sick. I remember at school when 3 or 4 people got a cold, everyone else got a cold. Even at the office, if your co-workers are getting sick you are probably in line to get sick. The moral of the story is if your co-worker is sick, tell him to go home. And don't live in a ***** dorm. - rocjoe71, on 11/26/2007, -0/+7The article's insistence on using "antibacterial" products for every encounter in the article is pretty shocking. Those products don't even contain a high enough concentration of active ingredients to disinfect anything. Not to mention most of those antibacterial chemicals are unsafe with prolonged exposure. The best disinfectant is still SOAP-- ask your doctor.
The paranoia of the article itself makes me sicker than any "germ". If you see that many problems in the world-at-large, you are one UN-happy dude. - WhiskeyLemur, on 06/30/2009, -0/+7And there is no way we're going out of our way to accommodate your laziness. Summary of article: OMG, germz! We're doomed! x_x
- jmpeagle, on 11/26/2007, -2/+8http://www.bitchmakemeasandwich.com/
- Unlegend, on 11/26/2007, -0/+6See below. For the record, I did this before I saw that you requested it.
- spyd3rweb, on 11/26/2007, -0/+6Definitely avoid the dorm bathroom doors. And I wish employers would get it through their head to give people who are sick days off so they don't infect the rest of the employees.
- inactive, on 11/26/2007, -0/+6Way too paranoid! This is ramblings from & for Obsessive Compulsive Hypochondriacs. What you should really worry about are the fatal infections that people get at your local hospital ... and it's very interesting that wasn't mentioned in this BS article.
- Andy1369, on 11/26/2007, -0/+5So America isn't the real world?
- nicko68, on 11/26/2007, -0/+5This article is brought to you by Purell.
- DeadFox1, on 11/26/2007, -0/+5Thank YOU! I wasn't about to click "next" for every one.
- teh_techie, on 11/26/2007, -0/+4I didn't know that. I learned something!
- Dustin00, on 11/26/2007, -0/+4Can we stop with teh antibacterial fear mongering?
If we keep pushing this crap, what comes next will make salmonella, campylobacter, and E. coli a joke.
Plain soap and water gets debris off the surface, when it dries, everything dies (just like the drying of the sponge).
Simply put: being a pig is unhealthy. Antibacterials are not going to solve your lazy-ass problem. - inactive, on 11/26/2007, -0/+4so, in conclusion, wash your hands and *****. this isn't news: buried.
- Mothrog, on 11/26/2007, -0/+4You wash your *****?
- TimmyGUNZ, on 11/26/2007, -0/+4How do you know where you get sick from? Do your illnesses come with a return address so you know where exactly you contracted them?
- dattaway, on 11/26/2007, -1/+512 pages and clicking all those I'm sure someone is going to get infected.
- TimmyGUNZ, on 11/26/2007, -0/+3I got a repetitive stress injury from clicking "next" so many times!
- inactive, on 11/26/2007, -0/+3Although, this article does provide a convenient excuse for why I'll never go to a gym.
- thebassmaster, on 11/26/2007, -0/+3The 12 Germiest places in America? What, do those items not exist in the rest of the world?
- evillawngnome, on 11/26/2007, -1/+41. Your kitchen sink
“Kitchen sinks are dirtier than most bathrooms,” says Kelly Reynolds, PhD, an environmental microbiologist at the University of Arizona. There are typically more than 500,000 bacteria per square inch in the drain. In fact, in a recent study, half of the top 10 germiest spots in the home were (gulp!) in the kitchen. That sponge you use to clean the counter? Crawling with bacteria, as are the sink’s basin and faucet handles.
Reduce the risk: “Clean your kitchen counters and sink with an antibacterial product after preparing or rinsing food, especially raw fruits and vegetables, which carry lots of potential pathogens like salmonella, campylobacter, and E. coli,” says Philip Tierno, PhD, author of The Secret Life of Germs and director of clinical microbiology at New York University Medical Center. Sanitize sponges by running them through the dishwasher’s drying cycle. “That killed 99.9 percent of the bacteria on the sponges we used in a recent study—and we’d gotten them really good and contaminated first,” says Cheryl Mudd, a microbiologist with the Agricultural Research Service’s Food Safety Laboratory. As for the sink, clean it twice a week with a solution of one tablespoon of chlorine bleach and one quart of water. Scrub the basin, then pour the solution down the drain.
2. Airplane bathrooms
It’s not exactly a shock that there are a huge number of germs in most public bathrooms, but experts agree that those cramped and overused airplane loos (with only about one toilet for every 50 people) are the worst. “There are often traces of E. coli or fecal bacteria on the faucets and door handles, because it’s hard to wash your hands in those tiny sinks,” says Dr. Germ, a.k.a. Charles Gerba, PhD, a professor of environmental microbiology at the University of Arizona. But here’s the worst news: The volcanic flush of the commode tends to spew particles into the air, coating the floor and walls with, well, whatever had been swirling around in there.
Reduce the risk: Toilet seats are surprisingly clean, but use the paper cover when available. After using the toilet, wash and dry your hands thoroughly, and use a paper towel to handle the toilet seat, lid, tap, and doorknob. Put the lid down before you flush. If there’s no lid, turn your back to the toilet while flushing and beat a hasty retreat.
3. A load of wet laundry
“Clean clothes” is a whopper of an oxymoron. “Anytime you transfer underwear from the washer to the dryer, you’re going to get E. coli on your hands,” Gerba says. Just one soiled undergarment can spread bacteria to the whole load and the machine.
Reduce the risk: Run your washer and dryer at 150 degrees, and wash whites with bleach (not the color-safe type; it doesn’t pack the same punch), which kills 99.99 percent of bugs. Transfer wet laundry to the dryer quickly so germs don’t multiply, wash underwear separately (there’s about a gram of feces—a quarter the size of a small peanut—in every pair of dirty underwear), and dry for at least 45 minutes. Wash your hands after laundering, and run a cycle of bleach and water between loads to eliminate any lingering bugs.
4. Public drinking fountains
Drinking fountains are bound to be germy, but school fountains are the biggest offenders, with anywhere from 62,000 to 2.7 million bacteria per square inch on the spigot, says Robert Donofrio, PhD, director of microbiology for NSF International. Other school hot spots: cafeteria trays, sink handles, desk-tops, and computer keyboards. Yes, kids are germy creatures. And, thanks to their slapdash hygiene, 22 million school days are lost each year to colds alone.
Reduce the risk: Send your child to school with plenty of her own beverages. Teach her to wash her hands, especially before and after lunch, going to the bathroom, or using the computer. Send hand sanitizer to every school teacher and give extras to your child. And when it’s your turn to squeeze into that little desk for Open House? Swab it off with an antibacterial wipe, Gerba says. If schools did that every night, they’d reduce the child-absenteeism rate by half. And, of course, don’t drink from the water fountain!
5. Shopping cart handles
Saliva. Bacteria. Fecal matter. Those are just a few of the choice substances Gerba found on shopping cart handles. Carts rank high on the yuck scale because they’re handled by dozens of people every day and you’re “putting your broccoli where some kid’s butt was,” says the professor of environmental microbiology. And, of course, raw food carries nasty pathogens.
Reduce the risk: Many stores, aware of the ick factor, have a dispenser with disinfectant wipes near the carts. If yours doesn’t, bring your own and give the handle a quick swab; that’s been shown to kill nearly 100 percent of germs. Or carry along a cart cover, like the Grip-Guard or Healthy Handle, a dishwasher-safe polypropylene cover that fits over any size cart handle. At the meat counter, follow the lead of Elizabeth Scott, PhD, co-director of the Center for Hygiene and Health at Simmons College in Boston: “I always put raw meat in a plastic bag. If I get some juice on my hands, I ask the person behind the counter for a disinfecting wipe.”
6. ATM buttons
If you’re not careful, you might pick up more than quick cash from your local ATM. Those buttons have more gunk on them than most public-bathroom doorknobs. (The same goes for vending-machine buttons, bus armrests, and escalator handrails.) After testing 38 ATMs in downtown Taipei, Chinese researchers recently found that each key contained, on average 1,200 germs. “ATMs aren’t frequently cleaned, and they are regularly touched—a perfect combination for a lot of germs,” environmental microbologist Kelly Reynolds, PhD, says.
Reduce the risk: “Carry an alcohol-based hand-sanitizer with you and rub it on your hands after a visit to the ATM,” Reynolds suggests. Also, be sure to do it after you handle money. “Paper money actually carries quite a few germs, too,” she says.
7. Your handbag
Your Marc Jacobs? Dirty? Yep. Think petri dish. When University of Arizona professor of environmental microbiology Charles Gerba, PhD, and his team tested women’s purses not long ago, they found that most had tens of thousands of bacteria on the bottom and a few were overrun with millions. Another study found bugs like pseudo-monas (which can cause eye infections), and skin-infection-causing staphylococcus bacteria, as well as salmonella and E. coli. Your makeup case is every bit as bad, as are your guy’s wallet and personal digital assistant.
Reduce the risk: Instead of slinging your bag on the floor, hang it on a hook whenever you can—especially in public bathrooms—and keep your bag off the kitchen counter. Stick with leather or vinyl purses, which are typically cleaner than cloth (less-porous surfaces are more impervious to germs). And wipe your bag down every few days with a mild soap or disinfectant, then let it air dry. Brand name, alas, makes no difference.
8. Playgrounds
There’s just no way to put this delicately: Children tend to ooze bodily fluids and then spread them around. “When we sampled playgrounds, we were pretty aghast at what we found—blood, mucus, saliva, urine,” Kelly Reynolds, PhD, says. Pair those findings with the fact that children put their fingers in their mouths and noses more than the rest of us, and it’s easy to understand why Junior (and maybe his mom or dad) has the sniffles.
Reduce the risk: Carry alcohol wipes or hand-sanitizing gel in your purse, and clean everybody’s hands a couple of times during a park visit, especially before snacking. Pick warm sunny days for outdoor play: “The sun’s ultraviolet light is actually a very effective disinfectant. Most bugs won’t survive long on surfaces that are hot and dry,” says Howard Backer, MD, MPH, an expert in communicable diseases in Richmond, California.
9. Mats and machines at health clubs
“I see a yoga mat, and I worry,” says Elizabeth Scott, PhD, who has found antibiotic-resistant staphylococcus on yoga mats and cardio and resistance machines. “At high schools, antibiotic-resistant-staph infections have been transmitted through wrestling mats. The same thing could happen at health clubs.”
Reduce the risk: Wipe down machines with antibacterial wipes before working out. Bring your own yoga mat or cover a loaner with your towel. “Shower after a workout and soap up your skin to rinse off any bacteria you may have been exposed to,” Scott says. “Thorough washing gets rid of antibiotic-resistant staph.”
10. Your bathtub
Shocking, but true: The place you go to get clean is quite dirty. In a recent study, Elizabeth Scott, PhD, found staphylococcus bacteria, a common cause of serious skin infections, in 26 percent of the tubs she tested, as compared with just 6 percent of garbage cans. Tubs typically had more than 100,000 bacteria per square inch! “It makes sense when you think about it,” she says. “You’re washing germs and viruses off your body. The tub is a fairly moist environment, so bacteria can grow.”
Reduce the risk: Once a week, apply a disinfecting cleaner to the tub. “You need to actually scrub, then you need to wash the germs down the drain with water and dry the tub with a clean towel. If you leave the tub wet, germs are more likely to survive,” Scott says. Pay special attention to soap scum—a surprisingly germ-friendly environment, author Phiilp Tierno, PhD, adds. If someone who uses the tub has a skin infection, scrub it afterward with a solution of two tablespoons bleach in one quart of water.
11. Your office phone
This is enough to make you dial 911: Office phones often have more than 25,000 germs per square inch, and your desk, computer keyboard, and mouse aren’t far behind. “Phones, including cell phones, can be pretty gross; they get coated with germs from your mouth and hands,” says Robert Donofrio, PhD. Although we’d like to think of ourselves as cleaner than guys, women’s offices have twice the number of bacteria (but men’s are slightly more likely to harbor antiobiotic-resistant staphylococcus). In fact, Gerba calls desks “bacteria cafeterias,” because of all the food particles he found there. Most common office areas—kitchens, copiers—are not as dirty as individual desks, although the microwave is pretty bad.
Reduce the risk: Simply clean-ing your desk, phone, and key-board with a disinfecting wipe once in the middle of the day will kill 99.99 percent of the bacteria and viruses.
12. Hotel-room remote
What’s the first thing you do when you settle in at a hotel? You grab the remote control and switch on the TV—you, and the hundreds of other guests who’ve stayed there. How dirty is it? Owen Hendley, MD, a professor of pediatrics and infectious disease at the University of Virginia School of Medicine, and his colleagues recently tested various surfaces for the cold virus after a group of sick people had stayed overnight. “We found the virus on the remote, door handles, light switches, pens, and faucet handles,” he says.
Reduce the risk: Clean the remote control, phone, clock radio, door handles, and light switches with germicidal wipes. While you’re at it, throw on a pair of slippers and throw off the bedspread. “We’ve found urine and semen on both carpets and bedspreads.” They may not make you truly sick, but it certainly is enough to make you feel queasy. - Keverwinkle, on 11/26/2007, -0/+3Thank God parents have access to this material. Not only will they create little germaphobes, but they will endanger their children with an increased risk for asthma. This was shown in previous studies where children who washed their hands twice or more a day were at much higher risk for asthma than were the control groups. The issue of going abroad and having problems happens to everyone whether immune compromised or not. That's an issue of differing bacterial strains and poorly processed tap water leading to the presence of disturbing stuff such as giardia and e coli. If anybody believes that their immune system is strong enough to pony up to giardia, have fun.
- dragon76, on 11/26/2007, -0/+3I think the reality of the situation is that most of the germiest places they listed are infested with your own germs. It's other people's germs that really are the problem. Use your Airborne and you're fine.
- r2builder, on 11/26/2007, -0/+2Everyone knows that germs come from Germany.
- Manuelmty, on 11/26/2007, -0/+2America is a continent.
- xDibblerx, on 11/26/2007, -0/+2This person who wrote the article really needs to learn how to wipe their ass! Their underwear is too dirty or they wear them for a week straight. Was this article written in Europe? I think that in Europe they don't change their underwear unless they have an "accident"...
- Mothrog, on 11/26/2007, -0/+2What kind of pathetic ***** runs around life wiping their hands every time they touch something? Buried.
- GruntGrunt, on 11/26/2007, -0/+2I swear I've seen this before ...
- rajulkabir, on 11/26/2007, -0/+2The producers of "Monk" ought to sue Health magazine for stealing all their best material.
- nicko68, on 11/26/2007, -0/+2Duh, Germany is not in America. It's in... um... overseas somewhere.
- ipxodi, on 11/26/2007, -0/+2Lame for encouraging the use of MORE anti-bacterial soap, etc. Sure, the Kitchen sink might be the germiest place, but if you clean with hot water and detergent it'll be fine. Anti-bacterial agents are just causing an increase in highly resistant "super-bug" germs and lowering our own resistance to infection.
Lame again for too many pages to click. - buckrogers1965, on 11/26/2007, -0/+2I agree completely, and too clean of a home causes kids to have asthma.
- snea, on 11/26/2007, -0/+2But what about the whole ***** peanut in every pair of your underwear?
- ronaldinho, on 11/26/2007, -0/+2I do agree on the kitchen sink though......if more than one of your roommate is a dirty ass, watch out. Well, if you don't want to get sick, just keep yourself clean and don't be excessively dirty
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