It’s no secret that your phone is gross.
If you imagine where you take it during the day, and then into your bed at night for a bit of doomscrolling, the transfer of germs is inevitable.
But now researchers are warning that using your phone in bed could be more hazardous than you think.
Research revealed that your phone could be home to a host of harmful bacteria, including those usually found in cockroach droppings.
The researchers said that this bacteria, known as Pseudomonas aeruginosa, can be harmful to your body, and can affect your skin, blood, lungs and your gastrointestinal (GI) tract. In a worse case scenario, this can also lead to rashes, pneumonia and even sepsis.
Around 50 million people in Britain sleep with their phone in their bedroom, according to a YouGov study, with 74% having it with us at night despite studies showing that phones carry 10 times more bacteria than most toilet seats.
Not only does bringing your phone to bed lead to higher levels of blue light exposure, which suppresses melatonin and causes a bad night sleep, but it also means that you could be taking a host of bacteria to bed and the warm environment can encourage the bacteria to grow.
Conducting their own poll, MattressNextDay found that 51% of people have never cleaned their phone with antibacterial products, and a further 10% said they only cleaned their phone once a year.
Multiple studies have been conducted showing how dirty your phone is. One published in 2017 found more than 17,000 bacterial gene copies in the phones of American High School students.
And as it is estimated that we touch our phones thousands of times a day, we are transferring those germs to our faces and pillows.
But it’s not just phones which are dirty. Have you considered what could be hiding on your smart watch?
The study swabbed 10 smartphones and 10 smartwatches to see what bacteria sits on our tech before being transferred to our bedrooms.
They found that smartphones were the dirtiest piece of tech, and had more bacteria than TV remotes.
The most common bacteria living on phones, watches, and Fitbits was Pseudomonas aeruginosa – a bacteria commonly found in cockroach faeces.
It found that 70% of people they polled said they never cleaned their watch with antibacterial products, and only 10% said they cleaned their smartwatch once a month.
A spokesman said: ‘Considering smartwatches are often used for exercise, this shows just how much bacteria could be present on the smartwatches and transferring to the bed when worn to sleep.’
However, Pseudomonas aeruginosa is harmless in most cases. But it can lead to more severe health complications and exposure to the bacteria can cause eye infections, skin rashes, pus-filled pimples, diarrhoea, headaches and other conditions.
But luckily, there is one main thing you can take to reduce the risk of infection.
Tech giant Apple recommends you can use a 70% isopropyl alcohol wipe or antibacterial wipe to properly remove the dirt.
Of course, be careful with the amount of anti-bacterial spray you put on your tech devices, especially if they are not waterproof.
Alternatively, you can wipe your phone down with anti-bacterial wipes after you decide to take your phone into the bathroom or after a stint on public transport.
