The highest bacteria counts can sometimes be found where you least expect them. Kitchen counters are breeding places for germs?but what about restaurants?
Most restaurants use automatic dishwashers, but small restaurants and bars often wash dishes and glassware by hand. New research answers a basic question about eating and drinking at these places: How clean are manually washed dishes?
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When you go into a public toilet, do you dread sitting down? It turns out that these are not the repository for germs that we tend to think they are. In fact, in the home anyway, the toilet seat is often the most germ-free surface in the house!
Two years ago, we wrote about a study that showed that the cleaner your kitchen looks, the dirtier it actually is, since sponges harbor germs and wiping down surfaces spreads these germs around. Scientists have found that keyboards, computer mice and telephone dials contain 400 times as many germs as toilet seats.
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Worried about pollution? Stay away from home, where moving around?and even vacuuming?can kick up enough dust particles to be hazardous to your health. Maybe this will reassure you: the toilet seat is the most germ free place in your house.
Michael Bernstein writes for the American Chemical Society that that ordinary household activities can increase your exposure to particulate pollution. When small particles lodge in your lungs and get into your bloodstream, they can cause everything from asthma to heart disease. Particulates in your home come from outdoor, cooking, smoking, heating equipment and ordinary human activities?like moving around.
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