Germ-a-phobe?

The Seven Germiest Places

By April Daley

Using your local ATM is like sticking your hand in a public toilet, a recent British study finds.

Researchers from BioCote, an antibacterial product coating company, swabbed keypads on ATMs and the seats of nearby public restrooms. They found both contained bacteria that caused diarrhea and other illnesses—and the ATMs carried more bacteria than the toilets. Nasty.

Here are six other spots that are dirtier than you’d expect.

The Self Checkout at Your Supermarket

100 percent of the stands in supermarkets tested by germ expert, Chuck Gerbra, Ph.D. of the University of Arizona, had bacteria on them. More than 70 percent had coliform, commonly found in feces and aquatic environments.

Touch Screens

iPod, iPad, and tablet touch screens are covered with more contaminants than anything else tested, Dr. Gerba found. A simple solution: Spray a damp lint-free cloth with sanitizing spray made specifically for electronics—regular disinfectant products can damage your screen. Use a dry cloth to buff the screen until all fingerprints and smudge are gone. READ MORE

Enough to scare you? Me, not so much..I make sure that I participate in the normal hygiene routines - washing before meals, after certain normal body functions and I try not to put my fingers in my mouth much, my Mom helped me with that one when I was two years old. I've never really gotten into the hype of the germaphobes. I shake hands with people several times a day, I use public restrooms and water fountains without giving it a second thought. I sleep in hotels, drive rent-a-cars and fly on planes several times each week and I never really give it a second thought about the cleanliness of the things I touch...Now I'm not running my fingers across the dashboard of a rent-a-car and then rubbing my eyes but I generally don't go out of my way to avoid germy situations.

I see lots of people carrying those small bottles of hand sanitizer and for some reason those are the people that always seem to be getting sick. I have a theory about the hand sanitizer people...these folks have totally jacked around their immune system with that slimy clear gel that as soon as the little bit of a crazy germ comes in contact with them BOOM they get sick because their natural immune system is so out of whack. I take my vitamins, try to get enough rest and exercise and every year I get a cold, some years worse than others but every so often the germs win.

The article is informative I never would have thought about washing my reusable grocery bags until I read the story.

So till next time and by the way I like the hand sanitizer with the sparkles in it, nice touch....