Your office teabags carry 17 times more germs than your toilet seat
Scientists have found that teabags in your office can carry as many as 17 times more germs than a toilet seat. The average bacterial reading of an office teabag was 3,785, in comparison to only 220 for a toilet seat, as per a study carried out by the Initial Washroom Hygiene scientists. At the same time, a kettle handles has 2,483, the rim of a used mug 1,746 and a fridge door handle (1,592). Dr Peter Barratt of Initial Washroom Hygiene believes that offices should be more aware of the levels of hygiene in their communal kitchens. “If you stop to think about the number of different hands that touch things such as the kettle handle, tea bag box lid, mugs, and so on, the potential for cross contamination really adds up,” Dr Barratt added. Anti-bacterial wipes on kitchen surfaces and regularly cleaning the mug can pay huge dividends in terms of maintaining a healthy workforce. The staggering results obtained by analysing the bacterial readings of kitchen utensils and appliances were reported in The Independent.
