of public bathrooms, one has to wonder - should you hover above or cover the seat with toilet paper?

Are you really at risk of contamination?

It may be surprising, but in a typical home, your cutting board has around 200 times more

fecal matter on it than the average toilet seat. Even worse is the dish sponge, which

has around 200,000 times more bacteria. And while we've all seen our fair share of dirty

public toilets, the truth is, if it passes the site test and seems okay, it's probably

cleaner than most other objects in a bathroom.

Regardless, your skin is designed as an excellent barrier to microorganisms. Even though some

bacteria such as E. Coli can survive on a toilet seat indefinitely, if you don't have

an open sore near the it, or there isn't something foreign or sharp on the seat, the bacteria

isn't likely to get inside your body.

And while placing a layer of clean paper on the seat may reduce your contact with germs,

it's worth considering a few things. First, the species of bacteria typically found on

toilet seats are common skin microbes that most people already carry, meaning they pose

little threat unless you are immunocompromised. And secondly, chances are, microorganisms

are already over everything in the bathroom. Seriously. Simply flushing a toilet creates

aerosolized bacteria meaning that that toilet paper itself is likely contaminated.

The risk of infection comes most frequently from improper hand washing, followed by touching

your mouth, eyes, or other bodily openings. If you're that worried about germs and

insist on wasting toilet paper for your toosh, you should probably be in a biohazard suit,

because either way, you're being exposed.

On the other hand, hovering over the toilet is a perfect alternative if you're grossed

out, and gets a little workout in there as well. Otherwise, sit with confidence, wash

your hands, and when you're done, waltz over to that door and touch the handle that everybody

who didn't wash their hands touched too :)

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