The average person touches their smartphone more than 2,000 times a day, surveys have shown. Also, people tend to carry their phones everywhere with them, including the bathroom where most contamination happens. So it’s not surprising that phones can harbor lots of bacteria and germs.
Wiping your phone or cleaning it with soap and a little water, or preventing your phone from getting dirty is generally a good idea, according to Emily Martin, associate professor of epidemiology at the U-M School of Public Health. Phones are always going to be hotspots for germs because you hold them right up to the areas where infectious diseases can enter, like the eyes, nose and mouth, Martin says.
So more than cleaning your phone, avoiding bringing your phone into the bathroom “would be a boon for public health,” Martin says. Here are more tips about sanitizing your phone and other devices.
