Fecal Material is EVERYWHERE!

     It's everywhere! Fecal matter and fecal bacterial. It's in your home, your car, your workplace, in your bed...you name it. 

     The term fecal matter sounds nasty, but there is some good news...the risk of catching an awful illness or disease from it is pretty low. Still, the thought of the fact that pretty much any item that you touch is likely to contain some level of fecal matter or bacteria is off putting. 

     One study found that 1 in 6 cell phones are contaminated with fecal matter. Other items covered with it are baby toys and cribs, computer keyboards, toothbrushes and dozens of other everyday items in the home. 

     The best defense is wash your hands frequently with soap and hot water, but alcohol-based hand sanitizer can be used as a substitute. 

 

Some common items reeking with fecal bacteria are: 

 

1) Restaurant menus - these things are rarely cleaned between uses and generally only wiped down with a wet cloth that's probably filthy to begin with. 

2) Cell phones - They are constantly being handled...even when a person is in bathroom, so it’s no surprise they have a heavy load of fecal material and bacteria. Are you ready for this? Researchers at the University of Arizona found that an average cell phone has ten times the amount of bacteria as a toilet seat. That shouldn't be too disconcerting though because it's mostly your own, but think about it if you borrow one from somebody else. 

3) Washing machines - How does a machine that’s constantly full of soap and water end up coated with fecal bacteria? Dirty underwear. Every pair of dirty underwear contains about a tenth of a gram of feces...more is a person is...nasty. Unless washed in hot water with soap and bleach, the bacteria will end up on other clothes and grow in the washing machine. 

4) Kitchen sponges - Surprising these things also have more fecal bacteria than a toilet seat ans think about what all it touches that touch your lips or get put in your mouth. Furthermore, cleaning it by running it through the dishwasher or microwaving it may actually make it worse. Best to sanitize it in a bleach solution.

5) Office coffee mugs - 20 percent of office coffee mugs were found to have have fecal matter residue on them according to a University of Arizona microbiologist. That’s because most mugs are generally not very well cleaned. Again though the good news is that's it's probably your own fecal matter/bacteria assuming it's your personal cup. 

6) Remote controls - Specifically the ones in hotel rooms. They don't get cleaned. You should do it yourself using an antibacterial wipe. 

7) McDonald’s touchscreens - They might as well advertise, "Want some feces with that?" In the UK a newspaper swabbed them and guess what? They were covered with all nastiness. This is just one more reason to hate these things. It's like self-checkouts in stores and bagging you own groceries. I don't work there so why should I have to punch in my own order, scan my purchases and bag my items? 

8) Bed sheets - They have a build-up of bacteria and fecal matter. In fact, researchers compared human beds to beds created by chimpanzees in the wild and found that our beds contain a lot more bacteria. 

9) Air - We all breath and one study published in Applied and Environmental Microbiology found that airborne bacteria is plentiful and could even trigger asthma and allergies. In urban areas, dog feces added a surprising amount of bacteria to the air. 

 

     Think about this. When you nose detects the scent of feces the question arises, "Are you actually inhaling fecal molecules?" 

     Smells register in our noses when microscopic molecules are emitted by the things around us...coffee, flowers, etc., but what about fecal molecules? More good news here! You're not inhaling feces, just gas. 

     However, studies have found that IF someone was naked and they expelled flatus near your nose, you could, according to the British Medical Journal, actually inhale airborne, bacteria-laden droplets of feces.