For many social media-obsessed people, the phone eats first.
But if you’re planning to snap your Christmas Dinner this year, there’s bad news.
Experts have issued an urgent warning about using your phone at the dinner table – and it’s not just that it’s rather rude.
Dr Gareth Nye, a senior lecturer in physiology at the University of Chester, has warned that your smartphone can harbour harmful germs that could then spread to your dining table.
Worryingly, this includes bacteria that can cause everything from food poisoning to skin infections.
‘Mostly GI-like conditions such as diarrhoea, vomiting, and other stomach upsets,’ Dr Nye explained.
‘However, in people with compromised immune systems, it can cause very nasty infections like sepsis or pneumonia.’
While Dr Nye advises that you keep your smartphone well away from your dining table, if you can’t bear to be away from it, there are several things you can do to keep any germs at bay.
For many social media-obsessed people, the phone eats first. But if you’re planning to snap your Christmas Dinner this year, there’s bad news (stock image)
Speaking to Compare & Recycle, Dr Nye revealed some of the types of bacteria that can be found on your smartphone.
‘[It] depends on the line of work the owner has,’ he explained.
‘Healthcare workers, even if not frontline, can be growing a range of bacteria with the most common being Pseudomonas aeruginosa (which can cause severe respiratory or skin infections) and Acinetobacter baumannii (which can lead to meningitis).
‘Non-healthcare workers still carry bacteria on their phones, with Gram-positive spore bacteria being the most common.
‘These are linked to food poisoning and other GI issues.
‘Almost all phone surfaces will carry the common dangerous bacteria E. coli and faecal streptococci.’
As disgusting as it sounds, these bacteria usually reach our smartphones via our own hands, according to Dr Nye.
‘Our hands touch around 150 different items every day, more if you are a commuter, for example,’ he said.
As disgusting as it sounds, bacteria usually reach our smartphones via our own hands, according to Dr Nye (stock image)
‘Each one of these surfaces has the potential to lead to contamination with more dangerous bacteria.
‘Once on our hands, the next place our hands normally touch is a phone screen, and bacteria transfers from any object we touch to the phone.
‘This is particularly true when we consider phone usage in the toilet.
‘[Bacteria] naturally find their way to our hands during trips to the toilet, then to our phones, which will continue a passage of transfer until both surfaces are clean.
‘This can cause the spread of bacteria around the dinner table if you also have your phone in use while eating.’
Experts from Compare & Recycle have taken Dr Nye’s advice on board, and revealed five tips to cleaning your phone.
Before even attempting to clean your smartphone, the experts advise unplugging it to avoid any damage to the ports.
Next, remove your phone case and wash it with hot, soapy water, before letting it dry completely.
‘Use a specialist cleaner to avoid causing permanent marks if your case is leather or PU leather,’ Compare & Recycle said.
Go around your phone’s exterior with a lint-free cloth to remove dust and debris, before using a wooden toothpick to scrape any dust or dirt out of the phone ports.
Finally, use a 70 per cent isopropyl alcohol wipe or a cloth slightly dampened with hot, soapy water to wipe around the exterior of the phone, paying closer attention to areas around buttons and speaker holes.
‘To limit the chance of water damage, avoid spraying liquid cleaners directly onto the phone and avoid the phone’s ports,’ Compare & Recycle added.
It’s also important that you regularly wash your hands to avoid any germs spreading.
Dr Nye added: ‘Good hand hygiene plus daily sanitisation of your phone should be enough to prevent most infections.’
