Toilet seats are cleaner than keyboards
COMPUTER KEYBOARDS can be home to more harmful bacteria than a toilet seat, says UK consumer watchdog, Which.
Tests on 33 keyboards at the organisation's offices found four that posed a health hazard and one playing host to five times more germs than the office's toilet seats. It was ordered to be removed, quarantined and cleaned after tests showed it exceeded recommended bacteria limits by 150 times.
"If you look at what grows on computer keyboards, and hospitals are worse, believe it or not, it's more or less a reflection of what's in your nose and in your gut," Dr Peter Wilson, a consultant microbiologist at University College London Hospital told BBC Radio. "Should somebody have a cold in your office, or even have gastroenteritis, you're very likely to pick it up from a keyboard."
Which said one of the causes of dirty keyboards was the increase in the number of people eating lunch at their desks.
The survey also found that 10 per cent of people said they never cleaned their keyboard, with a further 20 per cent admitting to never cleaning their mouse. Almost half cleaned their keyboard less than once a month
COMPUTER KEYBOARDS can be home to more harmful bacteria than a toilet seat, says UK consumer watchdog, Which.
Tests on 33 keyboards at the organisation's offices found four that posed a health hazard and one playing host to five times more germs than the office's toilet seats. It was ordered to be removed, quarantined and cleaned after tests showed it exceeded recommended bacteria limits by 150 times.
"If you look at what grows on computer keyboards, and hospitals are worse, believe it or not, it's more or less a reflection of what's in your nose and in your gut," Dr Peter Wilson, a consultant microbiologist at University College London Hospital told BBC Radio. "Should somebody have a cold in your office, or even have gastroenteritis, you're very likely to pick it up from a keyboard."
Which said one of the causes of dirty keyboards was the increase in the number of people eating lunch at their desks.
The survey also found that 10 per cent of people said they never cleaned their keyboard, with a further 20 per cent admitting to never cleaning their mouse. Almost half cleaned their keyboard less than once a month