Article Review : Your Cell Phone Is 10 Times Dirtier Than a Toilet Seat. Here's What to Do About It

• Introduction

This time, I am going to review an article research from the time.com by Abigail Abrams (Aug 23, 2017). The title of this article is “Your Cell Phone Is 10 Times Dirtier Than a Toilet Seat. Here's What to Do About It.” By the title, we can somehow know what will be it discussing about. The idea of it is about how dirty and harmful the bacterias are and what are the steps to prevent the bacterias from living on something that we very often used in our daily lives which is our phones. Eventhough it just look like something trivial to be discussed, it never crossed most of our minds that this can be very important to know since I am very sure that all of us owned at least 1 phone for whatever the reasons are. It is important to know this because we all living in a community that interacts each other by phones and since the phones may contain harmful bacterias, I am sure that we all want to eliminate those bacterias and life in the healthiest state of our lives.

• Body

This article said that most people do not give a second thought to using their cell phone everywhere, from their morning commute to the dinner table to the doctor’s office and research shows that cell phones are far dirtier than most people think, and the more germs they collect, the more germs we touch. According to a survey by Deloitte, Americans check their phones about 47 times per day, which contributes to plenty of opportunities for microorganisms to move from our fingers to our phones. I agree with what the writer had said because people are always carrying their cell phones even in situations where they would normally wash their hands before doing anything, hence the  cell phones do tend to get pretty gross.  

In the article, they made some studies and it is found that there are presences of serious pathogens on cell phones, including Streptococcus, MRSA and even E. coli. To clarify things better, I have made a research to explain about these type of pathogens. Streptococcus species are responsible for many cases of pink eye, meningitis, bacterial pneumonia, endocarditis, erysipelas, and necrotizing fasciitis (the 'flesh-eating' bacterial infections). However, many streptococcal species are not pathogenic, and form part of the commensal human microbiota of the mouth, skin, intestine, and upper respiratory tract.

While MRSA stands for Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, it is an infection caused by a type of Staphylococcus, or staph, bacteria that is resistant to many different antibiotics. These bacteria naturally live in the nose and on the skin and generally do not cause any harm. However, when they begin to multiply uncontrollably, a MRSA infection can occur. These infections typically occur when there is a cut or break in our skin. MRSA is very contagious and can be spread through direct contact with an infected person. It can also be contracted by coming into contact with an object or surface that an infected person has touched. Though a MRSA infection can be serious, it may be treated effectively with certain  antibiotics.

Meanwhile, E. coli is a type of bacteria that normally live in the intestines of people and animals. Symptoms of intestinal infection include diarrhea, abdominal pain, and fever. More severe cases can lead to bloody diarrhea, dehydration, or even kidney failure.People with weakened immune systems, pregnant women, young children, and older adults are at increased risk for developing these complications. Most intestinal infections are caused by contaminated food or water. Proper food preparation and good hygiene can greatly decrease your chances of developing an intestinal infection.Most cases of intestinal E. coli infection can be treated at home. Symptoms generally resolve within a few days to a week.

Then the writer said again that just having these microbes on our phone will not automatically make us sick, but we still do not want to let them enter our system. She then strengthen her opinion by restating of what the Emily Martin, assistant professor of epidemiology at the University of Michigan School of Public Health said which is “research has varied on just how many germs are crawling on the average cell phone, but a recent study found more than 17,000 bacterial gene copies on the phones of high school students. Scientists at the University of Arizona have found that cell phones carry 10 times more bacteria than most toilet seats.”

Now, since she confidently said that cell phones carry 10 times more bacteria than most toilet seats, I made some research on what are the “Top types of bacterias that can be found of phones and toilet seats” and compared them two. 

Top types of the most dangerous bacterias which can be found on our phones :

1) Coliforms

Coliforms are organisms often found in animal and human feces, as well as on soil and plants

2) Escherichia Coli

E. coli O157:H7 is the one to blame for those foodborne outbreaks that we see in movies and local news broadcasts.

3) Staphylococcus Aureus

For decades, scientists have developed new medicines to stay ahead of the ever-mutating enemy, bacteria. But now Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) kills more people in the U.S. than AIDS-related complications.

4) Streptococcus

It can cause more serious maladies, like scarlet fever, toxic shock syndrome, cellulitis (infection that causes the skin to swell) and a flesh-eating disease called necrotizing fasciitis.

5) Coagulase Negative Staphylococci (CoNS)

Coagulase Negative Staphylococci is responsible for 30 percent of health care-related blood infections.

6) Molds

Exposure to mold is likely to affect the respiratory system, resulting in shortness of breath, nasal stuffiness, fever and—in less common cases—lung infection.

7) Yeasts

Yeast infections cause immense itching on your skin or vagina and in the case of the vagina, a discharge as well.

8) Clostridium Difficile

C. difficile is known to cause other conditions, like fever, nausea, abdominal pain and loss of appetite.

9) Corynebacterium

It's a pathogen whose toxic strains cause diphtheria, a potentially deadly disease in which toxins coat the infected person's throat and make it difficult to breathe.

10) Pseudomonas Aeruginosa

It has this amazing ability to resist treatment after infection.

Top types of the most dangerous bacterias which can be found on the toilet seats  :

1) Escherichia Coli

E. coli O157:H7 is the one to blame for those foodborne outbreaks that we see in movies and local news broadcasts.

2) Shigella Bacteria

Shigellosis causes infectious, severe diarrhea, abdominal cramping and other gastrointestinal distress that may last for about a week

3) Streptococcus

It can cause more serious maladies, like scarlet fever, toxic shock syndrome, cellulitis (infection that causes the skin to swell) and a flesh-eating disease called necrotizing fasciitis.

4) Staphylococcus

Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), for example, can live on a toilet seat -- and any nonporous part of a toilet -- for more than two months.

5) Influenza (and the Common Cold)

It can also live on almost any other surface you touch. It's easily transmitted through mucous membranes.

Finally, the writes suggests that keeping our phone out of the bathroom will help, but if we want to clean our phone, a few different methods will work. Many people just wipe their phones with a soft microfiber cloth, which will remove many of the germs. For a deeper clean, Whittier recommends using a combination of 60% water and 40% rubbing alcohol. Mix the ingredients together, and then dip a cloth in the solution before wiping it gently across our phone. Stay away from liquid or spray cleaners, which can damage your phone .Still, the best advice has more to do with you than the phone. Wash our hands several times a day, the experts say, and we will likely be just fine.

• Discussion/Conclusion

In a nutshell, I have dig deeper to answer the question which is, is it really true that “Your Cell Phone Is 10 Times Dirtier Than a Toilet Seat? ”. By the research and comparisons that I made early, I am kind of agree to what the writer has said in only in certain condition and I am not agree for what she said in certain condition. I am not agreeing to that is because I am not 100 percently sure that the calculation would be solidly 10 times dirtier. It could be 9 times, 7 times or even just 2 times dirtier but basically I do believe that the phones are dirtier than toilet seats if only the phones has never been sanitized or taken care of hygienely by the owner. From the top bacteria that I found by some researches, 10 bacterias are at the top for phones and only 5 bacterias are at the top for toilet seats. Surely these bacterias are not applied to all the phones and the toilet seats in this world because it is only from the average research that the professionals have made in America. Also, we need to consider how often ones touched a phone, what kind of job do they work and things like that. It is unfair to say that everyone’s phone is dirtier. But what makes me agree that the phones might be dirtier than the toilet seats is because, logically, people bring their phones almost to everywhere. Even in the toilet room. When toilets flush, they spread germs everywhere, which is how phones end up with fecal bacteria like E. coli. Then, we might go to the store and pay using cash to the counter. After that, without washing our hands we touched our phones. Look, we have just collected variety types of bacteria starting from the microorganisms in the toilet, on the cash, on the groceries, the steering of the car, all ended up at a phone and these are from a few places. What if we count all the places that the bacterias might sit through our journey all the day. It must be way a lot. So as a teacher to be, I want to spread to all the students or people out there on the awareness of how important it is to clean and sanitize our phones. Living in the millennium world these days with so much discoverings of new unbelievably diseases, it is a responsibility for ones to spread informations they know to all because one simple trivial looking awareness might change the filthy lifestory of a people to a new healthier one. 

• Abstract

I am doing a personal review on an article titled “Your Cell Phone Is 10 Times Dirtier Than a Toilet Seat. Here's What to Do About It.” I am questioning and stressing more on “how can the cell phones get 10 times dirtier than the toilet seats” rather than the solution which is “ on how to do about it”. There are a few researches that I made from different resources and later on I did the comparison and logical thinking to prove that my opinion is strong. Reading this surely can change someone’s life. One simple step can change the whole story. Enjoy.

• References

http://time.com/4908654/cell-phone-bacteria

http://science.howstuffworks.com/life/cellular-microscopic/top-10-germs-smartphone.htm

http://health.howstuffworks.com/diseases-conditions/infectious/5-diseases-toilet.htm