A new study released earlier this week by Travelmath may have you wanting to skip the in-flight meal the next time you’re jetting across country, as tray tables were found to contain the highest amount of bacteria populations per square inch of anywhere on an airplane.
According to the organization’s report, they had a microbiologist collect 26 samples from a total of four flights and five airports to find out the so-called dirtiest places encountered by regular air travelers during their business trips and vacation flights. As it turns out, the tray table was found to be the biggest offender, with 2,155 colony-forming units (CFU) per square inch. Barf.
In comparison, the lavatory flush button was found to contain 265 CFU/square inch, while the overhead air vent contained 285 CFU/square inch, and the seatbelt buckle came in at 230 CFU/square inch. For airports, drinking fountain buttons had the most bacteria with 1,240 CFU/square inch, while the locks on bathroom stalls had just 70 CFU/square inch.
How do those findings compare to other items we encounter on a day-to-day basis? Travelmath, citing statistics purportedly from the National Science Foundation, said that money contains five CFU/square inch, while cell phones have 27. Home toilet seats have 172, home counter tops have 361, and pet bowls have an astonishing 306,000 CFU/square inch.
Just another swab story
RedOrbit asked David Coil, a microbiologist from the University of California, Davis, for his thoughts on the study. “My first reaction,” he said via email, “was ‘great, another germaphobia scare story where they swabbed a few things and made up a story about risk.’ Then I actually read the ‘study’ and indeed, that’s all it is. This is no different than other recent (and weak) scare stories on dishwashers, playgrounds, doorknobs, etc etc.”
Coil explained that he calls this kind of research “swab stories,” and said that the biggest issue with this type of research is that bacteria can be found on just about anything. In fact, Coil said, just about everything that a person touches over the course of a day is covered in bacteria. Even people themselves are covered in and full of these microbes, and that’s not a bad thing.
“The vast majority of bacteria are irrelevant for human health, some are good, and there’s those few bad eggs that get all the press,” Coil said.
“What makes this ‘study’ particularly silly is that they even went one step further and tested for fecal coliforms and found zero, zilch, none,” Coil added. “Of course most pathogens are invisible to such a test, but it’s even more evidence that there’s nothing to be concerned about than the usual swabs story where they just say ‘ack! bacteria!’”
He also pointed out that the house bacteria data credited to the National Science Foundation actually came from NSF International, “a private certification company with a potentially vested interest in scaring people.” He also said that, since Travelmath released averages without giving people a look at the full range of data, the findings are “almost meaningless without some idea of how consistent they are.”
“But, he concluded, “since they’re measurements of something that doesn’t matter, perhaps that’s not such a problem. This is all not to say that people shouldn’t wash their hands, clean surfaces etc. Obviously some bacteria present a health risk and that risk needs to be managed. However, a ‘study’ like this doesn’t actually contribute anything useful to the discussion.”
—–
Feature Image: Thinkstock
Comments