Why You Should Stop Using Your Phone In The Bathroom

Using your phone in the bathroom can spread serious illnesses, and the problem is only becoming worse as people use handheld devices more and more. From tweeting, to putting up Instagram posts, making comments on facebooks and even answering calls, people use their phones for a good number of reasons in the bathroom.

In a recent study of mobile phone habits of 1000 people by Wtop.com, about 75 per cent of those questioned admitted to surfing the web, using apps, emailng and texting while in the toilet – with more than 90 per cent saying they had returned calls. Are you guilty of this? If yes, here are some reasons you should stop this habit:

1. Anything that you intend on taking out with you, into the environment, probably shouldn’t be accompanying you into the bathroom. That goes for electronic devices, that goes for food, and that also goes for anything that you might be sharing with people. – Huffington Post

2. According to a U.K.-wide study by scientists from the London School of Hygiene and Topical Medicine and Queen Mary University of London, one in six mobile phones was contaminated with E. coli bacteria. Fecal bacteria and viruses like the flu can survive on someone’s hands and on surfaces for hours, especially in warm temperatures away from sunlight. – CBC

3. The use of a cellphone without either washing your hands or cleaning off the device with an alcohol wipe could lead to a “cumulative effect of bacteria”. – Huffington Post

4. Smartphones, keyboards and tablets are even more contaminated than toilet seats, said a study by U.K. watchdog Which? in 2013.

5. Any place where people are touching their bodies, then an inanimate object, with their hands without washing – they are potentially transferring bacteria or viruses to the objects – Sunshine Coast Daily

So, next time you want to take your phone to the bathroom, or use someone’s phone who has just taken it to the bathroom, you should remember these points!

Stay safe.