If you are a parent, the following news may come as a huge relief to you, or it may send you running to the nearest soap dispenser: According to a new scientific survey, play areas at fast food restaurants are not the germiest places in America. Rather, that dubious distinction goes to gas stations. Specifically, gas pumps handles.
Given that we are a third of the way through the annual cold and flu season, it seems fitting that we’d get the first look at test results that feature the nation’s most highly contaminated surfaces.
Thanks to the folks at Kimberly-Clark (the maker of Kleenex), along with environmental microbiologist Charles Gerba, moms and dads can now combine their efforts to stay away from the following objects that contain germs most associated with illnesses: Gas pump handles, mailbox handles, ATM buttons, escalator rails, parking meters, crosswalk buttons and vending machines.
The research was conducted by professional hygienists who swabbed surfaces for bacteria associated with dangerous viruses and other maladies. The results found 71% of gas pump handles and 68% of mailbox handles were highly contaminated with bacteria. The next grossest surface on the list, those slimy ATM buttons, followed by grimy escalator rails.
According to health experts, the survey’s findings show that we all need to take more precautions against germs, especially parents with young children and elderly individuals with compromised immune systems. Health care professionals urge parents to wash their hands immediately after coming into contact with any of the items on the list. What’s more, moms and dads should also wash their children’s hands on a regular basis; meaning at the very least before and after meals and post-bathroom breaks.
As I write this I am thinking back to my mid-morning grocery store visit where I saw a toddler merrily pressing the buttons on a soft drink vending machine, and then shoving his hand into his mouth before happily returning to his button-pressing game. I’m not sure who is more at risk for getting sick—-the kid sucking on fingers likely laced with germs from previous thirsty patrons or the unassuming future customer who handles the vending machine’s buttons after the kid’s saliva dried on them.
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