NationStates Jolt Archive

Some computer keyboards harbour more harmful bacteria than a toilet seat, research has suggested.

Out of 33 keyboards swabbed, four were regarded as a potential health hazard and one harboured five times more germs than one of the office's toilet seats.

Microbiologist Dr Peter Wilson said a keyboard was often "a reflection of what is in your nose and in your gut".

During the Which? tests in January this year, a microbiologist deemed one of the office's keyboards to be so dirty he ordered it to be removed, quarantined and cleaned.

It had 150 times the recommended limit for bacteria - five times as filthy as a lavatory seat tested at the same time, the research found.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7377002.stm

Have you ever cleaned your keyboard? Do you eat at your computer? Is this something to be worried about, or something that should be ignored, like so many other health scares?

I have to be honest, I dread to think what those researchers would find if they tested my keyboard.

I eat at my desk, but I don't brush the food across the keyboard before I eat it.

ooga booga booga! go buy lysol...


seriously I don't think there is anything to actually worry about.

I eat at my desk, but I don't brush the food across the keyboard before I eat it.

You must drop crumbs on to the keyboard, though, meaning these bugs grow; you then (obviously) put your hands all over it.

If we wash our hands after the toilet, it begs the question should we now do so after using the computer?

Wack off, and then use the computer, obviously.

I frequently clean my keyboard and frequently wash my hands and I'm still icked out.

However, what kind of bacteria is on it? Probably not the icky poo kind that are on toilets.

I frequently clean my keyboard and frequently wash my hands and I'm still icked out.

However, what kind of bacteria is on it? Probably not the icky poo kind that are on toilets.

The equipment was swabbed for bugs, such as those that can cause food poisoning like E.coli and staphylococcus aureus

I don't think I'd like to meet either type of bug on a dark night. :p

I don't think I'd like to meet either type of bug on a dark night. :p

Bah. E. Coli is a total wuss. I could take him with one hand tied behind my back. He's so weak he doesn't deserve to be eradicated like Polio. Now, that's a bacteria I wouldn't like to meet in a back alley.

Bah. E. Coli is a total wuss. I could take him with one hand tied behind my back. He's so weak he doesn't deserve to be eradicated like Polio. Now, that's a bacteria I wouldn't like to meet in a back alley.

Polio is easy to defeat. Just take away the 'i' and enjoy it as a tasty treat.

Polio is easy to defeat. Just take away the 'i' and enjoy it as a tasty treat.
Yep. The mint with a hole.

Polio is easy to defeat. Just take away the 'i' and enjoy it as a tasty treat.

I'm gonna tell that to my mother! Maybe that'll be reason for her to finally let up on that official Red Ryder carbine-action 200-shot range model BB gun with a compass in the stock.
I could put an 'i' out with it!

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7377002.stm

Have you ever cleaned your keyboard? Do you eat at your computer? Is this something to be worried about, or something that should be ignored, like so many other health scares?

I have to be honest, I dread to think what those researchers would find if they tested my keyboard.

I hear bubble wrap!

Seriously, what's the point in living in plastic bubbles? Yes, there are some health risks that steps should be taken to avoid - ie washing your hands after using the toilet, but come on, unless you have a severely impaired immune system I see no reason to disinfect keyboards or wash your hands after using them. We're going to encounter bacteria no matter what, and yes, while in many cases we should take steps to avoid that, and yes this argument could be extended to ridicule, but in this particular example, well that's what I think.

Yes, there are some health risks that steps should be taken to avoid - ie washing your hands after using the toilet, but come on, unless you have a severely impaired immune system I see no reason to disinfect keyboards or wash your hands after using them.

But if your keyboard contains five times the bacteria of a toilet, and washing your hands too much is stupid, would it not make more sense to wash your hands after using the computer than after the toilet?

Bah. E. Coli is a total wuss. I could take him with one hand tied behind my back. He's so weak he doesn't deserve to be eradicated like Polio. Now, that's a bacteria I wouldn't like to meet in a back alley.

I don't think you'd want to have E. Coli eradicated. It's actually quite useful - as long as it stays where it belongs.

But if your keyboard contains five times the bacteria of a toilet, and washing your hands too much is stupid, would it not make more sense to wash your hands after using the computer than after the toilet?

After decades of using computers with ever-filthy keyboards and no significant effects on our health (hell, when was the last time one of your bacteria infections could be traced back to your keyboard?) I don't think it'd make sense at all. Besides, you don't crap on your computer, do you? So the chances of spreading some of the more dangerous bacteria are much lower if you stick to washing your hands after using the toilet instead of the pc.

I'm gonna tell that to my mother! Maybe that'll be reason for her to finally let up on that official Red Ryder carbine-action 200-shot range model BB gun with a compass in the stock.
I could put an 'i' out with it!

:D

You, sir or madam, have put a smile on my day. Have a cookie.

But don't eat it in front of the computer.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=11029793

Keyboard in dishwasher; problem solved.

I don't think you'd want to have E. Coli eradicated. It's actually quite useful - as long as it stays where it belongs.
Yeah, and in the right population range.

After decades of using computers with ever-filthy keyboards and no significant effects on our health (hell, when was the last time one of your bacteria infections could be traced back to your keyboard?) I don't think it'd make sense at all. Besides, you don't crap on your computer, do you? So the chances of spreading some of the more dangerous bacteria are much lower if you stick to washing your hands after using the toilet instead of the pc.

Mmm.

But if your keyboard contains five times the bacteria of a toilet, and washing your hands too much is stupid, would it not make more sense to wash your hands after using the computer than after the toilet?

First off, the thread title is misleading - ONE computer out of 33 contained more bacteria than a toilet seat, so it's not exactly the average computer user's keyboard that harbours more microbes than the porcelain throne. I doubt the way that 1/33 person treated their keyboard and personal hygiene was average, and if you're going to be that dirty, then it's not exactly your keyboard that's the problem is it? That's an effect.

And secondly, they say the 1/33 had 5x more bacteria than a toilet seat, but they don't specify that all these bacteria were harmful bacteria. Granted, it may have been the same percentage of harmful bacteria on a toilet seat, but it isn't stated.

First off, the thread title is misleading - ONE computer out of 33 contained more bacteria than a toilet seat, so it's not exactly the average computer user's keyboard that harbours more microbes than the porcelain throne.

Actually, the article states that four keyboards were a health hazard. It doesn't give an average toilet seat/keyboard ratio.

Eat on the toilet; it's cleaner than your desk

no u

That which doesn't kill you makes you stronger.

I have those alcohol cleaning pads for PCs somewhere but hardly use them on the keyboard.

Usually I have to buy a new one every year because I spill juice or beer onto it.

I don't hold my food over the keyboard while I eat or eat over the keyboard...the food is to the side of me so I have to turn around and face it to eat it. I mean, where else would I eat? It's not like we ever eat at a table, the family usually eats in their seats in the family room while watching TV. I don't want to do that unless it's a show I like.

Actually, the article states that four keyboards were a health hazard. It doesn't give an average toilet seat/keyboard ratio.

I know. So I'm right in saying that only one out of 33 had more bacteria than a toilet seat.

And while 'health hazard' could be serious, anything could be defined as 'health hazard'. Eating fingerfood after going on public transport without washing your hands. That probably ranks as a hazard but doesn't mean you have to zealously protect yourself. And again, only four out of 33. I guess you have to judge each keyboard on its individual merits when it comes to eating food (never thought I'd type that combination of words), and you personally best know how clean you keep your keyboard. I mean, this one has never been washed but I don't drop crumbs into it, and I don't use it with hands full of soil or whatever, so I don't feel the need to wash it or wash my hands after using it if I'm going to eat because I feel its quite likely to be in the 85% that were okay.

no u

Umm...

I don't hold my food over the keyboard while I eat or eat over the keyboard...the food is to the side of me so I have to turn around and face it to eat it. I mean, where else would I eat? It's not like we ever eat at a table, the family usually eats in their seats in the family room while watching TV. I don't want to do that unless it's a show I like.

You mean you don't use your keyboard to hold loose soup?

You can run bread in between the keys to pick up loose soup.

Loose soup.

That's a fun phrase.

Loose soup.

You mean to say that something which gets cleaned on a weekly (if not daily) basis is dirtier than something that might never be cleaned since the moment it comes out of the box? Wow, I am totally shocked.

Makes me wonder: Just how deadly would keyboard-soup be?

Research by the University of Arizona last year found the average office desktop harboured 400 times more bacteria than the average office toilet seat.

Not the keybooard--toilet seat ratio they should have had, but still kind of scary.

Someone mentioned earlier that washing your hands too much doesn't make sense, so maybe it makes sense to wash your hands after using a keyboard rather than the toilet. I'd say the most sensical is simply to wash your hands before you eat anything.

I think my keyboard is ok; they're probably talking about keyboards with grimy deposits on the keys, like I find them at univeristy.
Shaking my keyboard upside down doesn't yield any crumbs or other debris either.

My keyboard is spotless. I don't want the Company to get hold of my genetic material.

Plus eating at your desk is gross anyway. Crumbs all over your work, which you then hand over to someone else or file away for all time? Bleh!

I tried to clean my keyboard once, but the life forms in there are insisting that they have rights and I can't cleanse them.

Well, considering the toilet is one of the cleanest places in the home, I'm not surprised other things that you touch as often but don't clean are harbouring more bacteria.

I do eat next to my keyboard, though it gets dirtier at home than at uni due to the configuration of the desk, but I do shake it out every so often.

It may be interesting to note that my health improved a lot after I bought a laptop. Sticky keyboards used by many people are very bad in combination with monitors that use a low frequency (making you rub your eyes).

In general, it is a good idea to wash your hands after using a keyboard that is also used by others. It's not really necessary after using your own keyboard, if it's not too dirty and your basic hygiene somehow makes sure that only bacteria already known by your immune system can end up on that keyboard (hint: wash your hands after using public transport and such).

If I remember correctly, there are more bacteria inside the human body than there are human cells. Infecting yourself with bacteria types your immune system already knows is usually harmless (with sane exceptions, eg rubbing your own poo into wounds is a bad idea). Only bacteria you catch from other people are potential problems.

This is a healthy way to greet people: :upyours:
This isn't: :fluffle:

Whatever doesn't kill us makes us stronger.

I actually think we go overboard in our attempt to eliminate all germs & strongly suspect it's a factor in our increased susceptability to conditions such as asthma & auto-immune diseases.