One in six mobile phones contain E. coli

A shocking 92 per cent of mobile phones contain traces of E-coli due to people are too lax about washing their hands

A study has found that one in six British mobile phones contain traces of E. coli and nine in ten phones are coated with some kind of bacteria. The most likely reason for this is people failing to wash their hands regularly.

Researchers found harmful E. coli, responsible for a number of deaths in Germany in June on one in six hands during the experiment and subsequently on the participants mobile phones. Nearly all of them claimed to have washed their hands with soap after visiting the loo.

'This study provides more evidence that some people still don't wash their hands properly, especially after going to the toilet,' says Dr Val Curtis, of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.

'I hope that the thought of having E. coli on their hands and phones encourages them to take more care in the bathroom,' she says. 'Washing your hands with soap is such a simple thing to do but there is no doubt it saves lives.'

In total, 390 samples were taken from hands and phones in 12 British cities during the study, published for Global Handwashing Day tomorrow.

The most contaminated phones were found in Birmingham, but it was Londoners who were caught with the highest proportion of E. coli on their hands.

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