Thing to Touch of the Day: Not These Five Everyday Things Because Science They’re the Grossest

Take a seat because that toilet isn’t nearly as disgusting as the hand towel.

TIME magazine talked to Charles Gerba, a professor of microbiology at the University of Arizona, to get the dirty truth about what’s the grosses thing in the bathroom. Turns out, you’re probably touching them in hopes of getting cleaner. But you’re wrong. Dead wrong. Nothing is safe. Germs everywhere.

via Looopism

According to Gerba, the top five grosses things are:

1. Bathroom Towel because bacteria grows in moist conditions, especially in things that, like, never get washed.

2. Toothbrush Holder — Again, because you never clean that thing.

3. Kitchen Sponge — There’s a reason you don’t like touching that thing and it’s because it’s filled with bacteria. You want something you can wash, like a brush.

4. Cellphones — You probably already knew this because Japan is putting those smart phone wipes in bathrooms.

5. Supermarket Carts — I can’t even read this quote from Gerba — too scary— so you have to: “Almost 100% of them are home to E. coli because people are constantly touching the handles after holding raw food products.”

You can read more about the millions of tiny things that’ll make you sick and kill you over at TIME, but I don’t see why you’d want to. The germs are everywhere. We’re all doomed.

via Gif Bay