- According to a study, reusable bottles carry more germs than toilet seats.
- Used bottles can contain 40,000 times more bacteria than a toilet seat.
- Scientists discovered Gram-negative rods and bacillus bacteria.
According to a recent, alarming study, reusable bottles—common objects that most people use—carry more germs than toilet seats. Everyone utilises them, from children to adults, in workplaces, classrooms, and homes. Particularly for kids, there is practically an emotional relationship to these things.
Associate Professor Keong Yap, a clinical psychologist at Australian Catholic University and an authority on hoarding disorders, described them as “things that can’t betray us” and likened them to the way kids utilise stuffed animals and other “safe” objects that won’t damage us. That is untrue, though. When you don’t frequently clean these bottles, they only “betray” you.
A study by a US-based company revealed that used bottles can contain 40,000 times more bacteria than a toilet seat, not 10 or 100 times more. These bottles were referred to by the researchers as “portable Petri dishes”. Gram-negative rods and bacillus were the two types of bacteria that the project’s scientists discovered when they examined the samples they had collected. They scrubbed the bottle’s numerous surfaces. These included the squeeze-top and straw lids. While some bacillus species might cause digestive problems, gram-negative bacteria can cause illnesses that are becoming more and more difficult to treat.
They harbour twice as many germs as a computer mouse, twice as much as a kitchen sink, and 14 times more than a pet’s water bowl, according to a comparison of the cleanliness of the bottles to common household items. According to Dr Andrew Edwards, a molecular microbiologist at Imperial College London, “the human mouth is home to a great quantity and diversity of various bacteria,” adding that it is not surprising that the vessels we use are covered in microorganisms. Another microbiologist, Dr Simon Clarke, was quoted by the outlet as saying that although bottles are a large breeding ground for germs, they are not always deadly.
According to Clarke, he has never heard of anyone becoming ill after drinking from a water bottle. “The bacteria that are already in people’s mouths are likely to be in water bottles.”
In case you’re curious, the squeeze-top bottle was the most hygienic design of the three the researchers considered. It goes without saying that one must maintain their bottles clean, or at least cleaner than the toilet seat, despite the fact that the study’s sample was gathered from the US.
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