I read from a recent AOL news article that many of the digital touchscreen products that are now out are can be unhealthy if they are not cleaned. However, touchscreen products are not only affected, even regular dial pads on cell phones are racking up germs and bacteria which could cause the user of the product to obtain a virus. In the article, it referred to British researchers saying that, "the average cell phone is home to 18-times as much bacteria as the handle of a men's toilet room." I found this to be a lot worse than I originally envisioned when I first read the title of the article. However, I can definitely believe this research to be true, because I know personally that I do not take the time to clean my cell phone on a regular basis. Instead, when it smears, like the article states, I usually try to rub it off on my shirt. This only rids of the smudge, but underneath that, there is a ton of bacteria and from that could cause me or anybody else who regular uses a cell phone, or anything that involves regular interaction with your fingers, to become sick.
The article also states that with the viruses being smeared on a touchscreen, that "30-percent of it will find its way to your fingers" and on to other parts of your body, including your eyes and mouth. But it doesn't just end with touchscreens and dial pads. This can include various things that we use on a somewhat regular basis but maybe do not think about. One of these things is an ATM, which I can see how this could be affected by many people with how often I see lines at them. Personally after I use an ATM, I do not usually think, "Hey! Let me whip out my hand sanitizer." Another area where bacteria seems to spread rapidly is at the movies, especially those with 3D and the use of recycled 3-D glasses. So with all this technology that we like to enjoy and can actually interact with using our hands, we need to make sure that we are trying to properly clean them or at least our hands after using them.
On a quick side note, would you pay $8 million dollars for an I-phone for it to be completely dirty?
I imagine this type of news article makes the manufacturers of things such as hand sanitizer smile and rub their hands together in anticipation.
ReplyDeleteI mean, it makes sense that things which are touched, are going to be dirty(covered in that person's germs), yet I think a lot of people don't associate certain things with dirt. Such as a touch screen. I've seen people shy away from using a door knob because it is dirty, but I've never seen someone shy away from touching someone else's touchscreen.
I agree. You can clean your phone with rubbing alcohol. You may notice that the side of your face that has a phone on that ear has more facial break-outs from bacteria build up. Keep it clean people.
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