Posted on: Sunday, May 2, 2004

Desks — not toilets — are 'bacteria cafeterias,' study finds

By Dana Knight
Indianapolis Star

A new study says office workers are exposed to more germs from their phones and keyboards than would be found crawling on a toilet seat.

A lot more.

According to the study's numbers, from researchers at the University of Arizona, telephones have up to 25,127 germs per square inch, keyboards 3,295 per square inch and computer mice 1,676 per square inch.

The average toilet seat? Just 49 germs per square inch.

"Wooo," said Clarence Bir, sales manager for Jani-King Commercial Cleaning of Indianapolis, which specializes in office cleaning.

The study surprised even him — an expert on just how dirty the desk can get.

"Desks are really bacteria cafeterias," microbiologist Charles Gerba, who researched the study, told BBC News.

And just think about all the other communal items in the office — microwave door handles, coffee pots, water coolers, pens, staplers and copy machines.

"It's just like a daycare (center)," Bir says. "Once the bug starts in the office, it just circulates."

One reason for the germ problem, at least in Bir's opinion, is the high number of companies that shy away from hiring cleaning services to swipe and disinfect desks.

They come in and sweep the carpet, scrub down the toilet and wash windows.

But keyboards, phones and computer mice are far and away the most germ-laden objects in the office, according to the study. Cleaning folks generally stay away from those items.

Employers have to decide how detailed they want their cleaning services to get, but the benefits of allowing and paying for individual desk cleanings is worth it in the end, Bir said.

"There's been study after study that people who pay to have cleaning services have higher employee attendance," he said. "Lower absenteeism."

That's because of fewer illnesses.

After all, 80 percent of flus and colds are caught by simply touching a surface.

"When someone is infected with a cold or flu bug, the surfaces they touch during the day become germ transfer points because some cold and flu viruses can survive on surfaces for up to 72 hours," Gerba said.

"An office can become an incubator," he said.

One tip: Scrub your desk with a disinfecting wipe, such as Clorox, at least once a week.

This simple task can reduce germs and bacteria by as much as 99.9 percent.