For example, a toilet seat has only 50 bacteria per square inch, whereas a kitchen sponge has 10 million bacteria per square inch. However, even if there are fewer of them, you may still encounter various germs on your toilet seat including fecal bacteria, influenza, streptococcus, E.
Bacteria like Staphylococcus can contaminate non-porous surfaces for more than two months. Spending 3 minutes on a toilet seat contaminated with this bacterium can lead to skin rash or skin infections.
So, yes, you can sit on that toilet seat with little fear, just make sure you wash your hands when you're done. And, of course, if you're not feeling that adventurous, there's always the paper cover thingies. (Though good luck getting them to stay positioned perfectly!)
The lid was designed to keep germs where they belong, in the bowl and down the drain! If you leave the lid up when you flush, those germs can float around your bathroom, landing on any available surface, including towels, hairbrushes or even toothbrushes. Nobody wants that!
The toilet gets an unfair reputation. Microbiologists say the seat is actually one of the cleanest places in your home. Clean it once a week.
But the filthiest culprit in our homes is the kitchen sponge or cloth. According to Gerba, there are about 10 million bacteria per square inch on a sponge, and a million on a dishcloth. In other words, a kitchen sponge is 200,000 times dirtier than a toilet seat, and a dishcloth is 20,000 times dirtier.
To clean your toilet seat, we recommend using mild hand soap and water. Anti-bacterial hand soap, dish soap, or anti-bacterial wipes are also acceptable – using any of these will preserve your toilet seat's glossy finish. If you use wipes, please make sure to thoroughly dry the ring and cover with a paper towel.
Public bathrooms may be teeming with bacteria, but the toilet seat is probably safe for sitting. But the toilet seat is actually the cleanest part of the bathroom, one expert says.
As it turns out, research suggests that we definitely should be closing the lid before every flush, no matter how clean your toilet is.
Smaller particles that remain suspended in air can expose people to respiratory disease, such as influenza and COVID-19, through inhalation, while larger particles that settle quickly on surfaces can spread intestinal diseases, such as norovirus, through contact with the hands and mouth.
You should immediately wash your hands after using the toilet in a public restroom. Here's a reminder why: Washing with soap and warm water for at least 20 seconds is an effective way to rid your hands of viruses and bacteria, according to the CDC.
You should lean forward into a 35 degree angle instead of being up straight at 90 degrees. This is because when you need to go to the toilet, your puborectalis muscle relaxes and the rectum angle widens. The puborectalis muscle is a band that wraps around the lower rectum.
This is in addition to the bacteria found on the other parts that you have come into contact with, such as the flush handle covered in as much as 83 bacteria per sq. in and the toilet seat surrounded by over 295 bacteria per sq. in.
Add a few drops of the hand sanitizer on the toilet seat and then wipe it clean with the toilet paper. This would disinfect the seat to some extent.
"Urine is normally sterile as a body fluid. Even if you have a urinary tract infection with bacteria in your urine it would be inactivated with the chlorine levels in the public water supply," he said. "So there's really no known disease transmission with urine left un-flushed in the toilet."
It keeps everything much better contained,” Dr. Roberts says. “It's not perfect, but it certainly is better.” A 2021 research review published in the journal Environmental Science and Pollution Research found that flushing without closing the lid leads to surface contamination of the toilet.
The research found that putting the toilet lid down reduced the number of both visible and smaller droplets during and after flushing by 30-60%. However, use of the lid also increased the diameter and concentration of the bacteria in these droplets.
Dishcloths and sponges are dirtier than any other item in the average home, harboring the largest amount of E. coli and other fecal bacteria—mostly because they aren't replaced as often as they should be. Each square inch of these items contains 456 times more bacteria than a toilet seat.
Researchers at the University of Arizona found that cellphones carry ten times more bacteria than a toilet seat. While many bacteria are harmless, some studies have found serious pathogens on cellphones like E-Coli, MRSA, and Strep.
According to the research, internal bathroom door handles are the dirtiest, with an average of 93 bacteria colonies per cm2 of surface. This is almost eight times dirtier than a toilet seat.
Clean seat with a mixture of dishwashing liquid and water, or any of the products listed for toilet seats, using a soft sponge or cloth. Rinse clean, dry with a soft towel, and let the seat air-dry to ensure the hinge area dries completely.
Always carry disinfecting spray or wipes with yourself. These flushable wipes can be used to clean public toilet parts. Allow the disinfecting sprays to sit on the seat for a few seconds before using the seat. If you can't find disinfecting sprays, carry alcohol wipes with you.