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  • Sometimes, it just can't wait till you get home! But with the questionable sanitary state

  • of public bathrooms, one has to wonder - should you hover above or cover the seat with toilet paper?

  • Are you really at risk of contamination?

  • It may be surprising, but in a typical home, your cutting board has around 200 times more

  • fecal matter on it than the average toilet seat. Even worse is the dish sponge, which

  • has around 200,000 times more bacteria. And while we've all seen our fair share of dirty

  • public toilets, the truth is, if it passes the site test and seems okay, it's probably

  • cleaner than most other objects in a bathroom.

  • Regardless, your skin is designed as an excellent barrier to microorganisms. Even though some

  • bacteria such as E. Coli can survive on a toilet seat indefinitely, if you don't have

  • an open sore near the it, or there isn't something foreign or sharp on the seat, the bacteria

  • isn't likely to get inside your body.

  • And while placing a layer of clean paper on the seat may reduce your contact with germs,

  • it's worth considering a few things. First, the species of bacteria typically found on

  • toilet seats are common skin microbes that most people already carry, meaning they pose

  • little threat unless you are immunocompromised. And secondly, chances are, microorganisms

  • are already over everything in the bathroom. Seriously. Simply flushing a toilet creates

  • aerosolized bacteria meaning that that toilet paper itself is likely contaminated.

  • The risk of infection comes most frequently from improper hand washing, followed by touching

  • your mouth, eyes, or other bodily openings. If you're that worried about germs and

  • insist on wasting toilet paper for your toosh, you should probably be in a biohazard suit,

  • because either way, you're being exposed.

  • On the other hand, hovering over the toilet is a perfect alternative if you're grossed

  • out, and gets a little workout in there as well. Otherwise, sit with confidence, wash

  • your hands, and when you're done, waltz over to that door and touch the handle that everybody

  • who didn't wash their hands touched too :)

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Sometimes, it just can't wait till you get home! But with the questionable sanitary state

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