How Much Bacteria Is On A Door Handle

Difficile has been found to survive for up to five months.

How much bacteria is on a door handle.

Flush handles generally have around 83 bacteria per square inch. Traditional grocery store shopping carts have 361 times more bacteria than a bathroom door knob. By some scientific estimates each human hand is home to roughly 150 species of bacteria. 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. Salmonella are often found in toilet bowls. One study found that starbucks door handles carried more bacteria than a new york city subway pole. Salmonella only lasts four hours but mrsa can last several weeks and c.

Home office computer keyboard. Taps you touch them before and after you wash your hands so you are transferring germs onto taps every time. 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. On a hard non porous surface like a door handle most viruses are destroyed within 24 hours.

Surfaces that are touched frequently from shopping carts to the elliptical machine at your gym are often crawling with bacteria. The faucet and interior door handles had only a fraction of the bacteria found on the shower curtain or floor. However when those door knobs are made of brass or copper a chemical. Some flush handles harbor as many bacteria as are found on the floor.

The survival time for bacteria is more variable. Interestingly though other surfaces we touch frequently had relatively few bacteria. 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. 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.

Bathroom door s inside handle. On clothing or skin the survival time is roughly halved. That goes for door knobs too of course.