How Much Bacteria Is On A Door Handle

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How much bacteria is on a door handle. Traditional grocery store shopping carts have 361 times more bacteria than a bathroom door knob. The survival time for bacteria is more variable. However when those door knobs are made of brass or copper a chemical. Surfaces that are touched frequently from shopping carts to the elliptical machine at your gym are often crawling with bacteria.

On clothing or skin the survival time is roughly halved. The faucet and interior door handles had only a fraction of the bacteria found on the shower curtain or floor. Difficile has been found to survive for up to five months. These harmful bacteria can cause severe vomiting and diarrhea in affected persons.

This study was conducted on the university campus an area which is considered fairly dense in population which many people will access these doors providing a host for the bacteria to travel elsewhere. After a study conducted by the worcester polytechnic institute wpi gathered that 1323 bacterial colonies were displaced among 27 door handles. Interestingly though other surfaces we touch frequently had relatively few bacteria. A budget grocery store cart has 8 112 bacteria colonies per square inch while a toilet handle only has 30 bacteria colonies per square inch.

One study found that starbucks door handles carried more bacteria than a new york city subway pole. By some scientific estimates each human hand is home to roughly 150 species of bacteria. Salmonella are often found in toilet bowls. A 2000 study by scientists at the uk s aston university school of health and life sciences examined the household conditions of six families who had recently suffered from a salmonella outbreak.

Beth potter assistant professor of microbiology center helps students holly pier and marcelo lob test for bacteria on a door handle at penn state erie the behrend college. So much so that it could be harbouring 2 733 bacteria on just one square inch. Some flush handles harbor as many bacteria as are found on the floor. Flush handles generally have around 83 bacteria per square inch.

Even still germs need a moist warm environment to survive and cannot live for more than one to two hours on a hard dry surface such as the door handle. That goes for door knobs too of course. Taps you touch them before and after you wash your hands so you are transferring germs onto taps every time.