How much do you know about germs?

Which surface has more germs?

(Find the answers on the next page.)

a) Your home toilet seat — OR — A public toilet seat

b) The kitchen faucet — OR — Your kitchen counter

c) A grocery cart — OR — A doorknob

Think you got the answers right? Click here to find out.

Answers:

a) Your home’s toilet seat is dirtier, with 295 bacteria/sq. in., compared with 49/sq. in. on public toilet seats.

b) Highly used and moist, the handles of your kitchen faucet have 13,227 bacteria/sq. in.; the counter has 488/sq. in.

c) Doorknobs are dirtier, with 4 colony-forming units (or CFU) of bacteria/sq. in., even though shopping carts have a bad rap (2 CFU/sq. in.).


Want to know more about which germs are OK for your kids? Click here.