Sixth of Britain's cellphones have traces of poo on them

Phones have shit on them

Judging by the amount of fart apps and other junk, I'd say that yes - many phones have lots of shit on them

Is this really a problem?

Bacteria is on everything we handle and it seldom causes a problem. We have an immune system for a very good reason, and for most people it does an admirable job in protecting us. Are there any studies that show that the bacteria on phones is causing infections? If this were a real problem, people would be getting sick from bacterial infections -- and they're not. The vast majority of illnesses that most people get are viral, not bacterial. I would be far more concerned about catching an airborne virus while riding in a commercial airliner, bus, or subway than catching a bacterial infection from a dirty phone.

I think the problem is that while most people do wash their hands, they don't do it properly, and in particular they don't dry their hands afterwards. If you just dip your hands under the running tap for a second, and don't dry them properly, that is actually worse than not washing them at all.

Ideally, you should wash your hands thoroughly with soap and hot water, dry them with a paper towel, then dry them a bit more in a hand drier, then use an alcohol gel to kill any remaining nasties.

Why?

I could never understand why the fuss, . since the whole of your digestive system is stuffed with bacteria. I once read that 40% of what you excrete is bacteria. What can be the harm in sending the stuff round for a second trip. So long as it's your particular mix of bacteria, that is. No other animal seems to give a damn. Are we some sort of alien on this planet?

the "B" Ark

Quick, tell 'em we want our telephone sanitizers back...

So, which hand do you wipe your arse with?

we are all doomed!

unless you can remove the last sheet from the previous visitor on the roll without touching it, you've just picked up SOMEONE ELSES sh te!

More chance of touching a loo roll than a strangers phone!

Why does Gary F need warm water? I would think cold water + soap works just as well unless your "warm" water is approaching 333 kelvin. Maybe it just feels nicer?

This sort of study reminds me of the forensic test they sometimes do on Top Gear. A good source of sophomoric humour, e.g. "your phone/car/hands are covered in poo!" but not of any real consequence.

Most bank notes have traces of cocaine on them. You're not going to get high from licking all your reddies any more than you will get seriously ill by eating a sandwich between texts.

Apols to Python

Large Man with Dead Body: Who's that then?

The Dead Collector: I dunno, mustn't be an iPhone user.

Large Man with Dead Body: Why?

The Dead Collector: He hasn't got shit all over him.

Poo phone

You can thank the wipe your ass app for this

You don't NEED to wash your hands after passing a motion...

I'm not saying you shouldn't, as walking around with shit-laden fingers is extremely gross. However, in the rules of food hygiene, washing your hands after going to the toilet does little for you. Why? As others have pointed out, the door you push to get out. Lift buttons. Keyboards or, God help us, public phones. Taxi handles. Those strap things you hold on to on the tube. There are literally thousands of infectious vectors ALL OUT TO KILL US (there you go, there's Monday's alarmist headline).

Hygiene in the outside world requires everybody to clean their hands properly at all times, and God knows we've all witnessed enough people either passing their hands under the tap so quickly they're barely wet, or just not even bothering. There's also the old adage of certain cultures using one hand to eat and the other to...

The most important thing is not whether or not you wash your hands after visiting the crapper, but whether or not you wash your hands before eating, handling food, or watching a film while stuffing yourself; because in these cases you risk setting up a direct chain of contamination roughly akin to crap->hands->nachos->gut=bleugh!

And they wonder why...

... I refuse to shake hand to everyone at my job's on the morning.

"Soap AND warm water is needed for at least 10 seconds of vigourous rubbing after doing a wee "

What? Warm water? We're supposed to be killing the bacteria, not breeding it.

And where does that 10 seconds come from? I think that figure might have some e coli on it too.

Quite frankly, in most pub loos, my cock is by far the cleanest thing in the room. I'm certainly not going near the sinks. No different to washing your hands in an urinal.

wait if this is true how come we can't drive while using a mobile?