mobile infection

You may like to throw your mobile phone after reading this, as a new study has found the average handset carries 18 time more potential harmful germs than a toilet’s flush handle.

An analysis of handsets by British researchers found that almost a quarter of them were so dirty that they had up to 10 times an acceptable level of TVC bacteria.

TVC, or Total Viable Count, gives a quantitative idea about the presence of microorganisms such as bacteria, yeast and mold in a sample.

Elevated levels of TVC indicate poor personal hygiene and act as a breeding ground for other bugs.

One of the phones in the test had such high levels of bacteria that it could have given its owner a serious stomach upset, said the researchers who carried out the study for the ‘Which?’ magazine.

The findings from a sample of 30 phones suggest that 14.7 million of the 63 million mobiles in use in the UK today could be potential health hazards, they said.