Keeping Your Phone Safe And Clean Is No Easy Task

You can’t watch the news these days without hearing about the threat of infectious diseases in America. The Ebola virus has claimed the life of the individual who brought it to our shores, and two of his nurses are now fighting for their lives, after catching it from him. Health officials are trying to determine if passengers on a commercial airline flight, and on a cruise ship, could have been exposed to the virus. Meanwhile, Enterovirus D68, which in previous years has rarely been seen in North America, has infected hundreds of children in just about every state. In addition to those viral dangers, MRSA, the drug-resistant Staph bacteria, is also on the rise.

More than ever, it’s important to limit your exposure, and stop the spread of dangerous contagions. Most people are washing their hands more often, but in many cases, the effort is futile. As soon as they dry their hands, they pick up a dangerous, bacteria and virus contaminated object: their smartphone.

Can you contract a disease from your smartphone? Definitely. It’s probably easier than you think. Here’s a good comparison. How clean do you imagine the toilet handle in a public restroom might be? Is there any amount of money you would accept to put your mouth on one? Of course not. It’s filthy. And yet you don’t think twice about putting your smartphone to your mouth. A study conducted by Which Magazine found that the average mobile phone had 18 times more harmful bacteria than the flusher in a public restroom.

The average phone, in fact, has more bacteria than a public restroom toilet seat, and more disease causing microbes than the bottom of a shoe. The microscopic contaminants can easily move from the phone to your hands and mouth. If this concerns you, and it should, there are several things you can do to make sure you’re not toting around a disease laden device.

Soap it Up

Washing your hands is pointless, if you’re going to have your paws all over a contaminated phone shortly thereafter. Here’s the good news. A number of popular smartphones on the market are waterproof, and still more are water resistant. The Sony Xperia Z series, and the Samsung Galaxy S5 can be completely submerged without any issues, and HTC One M8 can handle being sprayed. If your phone isn’t damaged by water, you should lather it up and rinse it off every time you wash your hands. This is, by far, the easiest way to stop the phone to mouth germ handoff.

Microbe Murdering Materials

Perhaps you don’t have a waterproof phone, or you’re concerned about pathogens that can survive soap and water. You might want to consider antimicrobial materials as your next line of defense. Corning Inc., whose Gorilla Glass screen is found on more than 1.5 billion devices, has a new cover glass that will literally melt the microorganisms that have the misfortune of landing on your screen. Billed as the first EPA-registered antimicrobial cover glass, the ionic silver infused screen kills 99 percent of viruses and bacteria it contacts, including the MRSA Staph superbug. There are also several brands of antimicrobial phone cases on the market.

Pathogen Slicing Lightsabers

Your phone isn’t the only contagion-spreading culprit. Your tablet, laptop, computer keyboard, keys, and just about every object you regularly come into contact with can become contaminated, and get you sick. Ultraviolet light can be used to decontaminate all of these items. Portable UV-C sanitizing wands eliminate 99.9 percent of allergens, bacteria, and viruses on surfaces. All of your personal mobile devices can be zapped clean. You can keep one at the house, and one at the office. It’s better to be safe than sorry.

It’s easy to think of dangerous diseases as problems in other parts of the world, or in other states or cities, but the truth is, many common pathogens are far more dangerous. The danger is already here. It may have already infiltrated your home. It could be on the screen of the very device you’re using right now. You might want to go clean it off.

photo credit: dgarkauskas via photopin cc