While toilet seats are infamous for being the breeding grounds for bacteria, there are many dirtier places in your house that you probably never knew existed. The following list shows common household appliances that are dirtier than your conventional toilet seat.

10.Ice

While ice would appear to be perfectly clean and unsuspecting, it is in fact a major breeding ground for organisms according to the Journal of the American Medical Association. Ice can become soiled through being transported on dirty floors of freezing rooms, carried by soiled human hands, or exposed to unsanitary ice machines. If that wasn't enough, a study found that 70% of the time, ice served in fast food restaurants across America had more bacteria than toilet water found in most households. Furthermore, most restaurants across America tend to freeze water for ice out of tap water, leaving many unfiltered particles to remain and be consumed. For this reason, ice makes it to the tenth position on this list.

9.Tables and Desks

Whether being used for art and schoolwork for elementary school children or for important business meetings, tables and desks have on average more than 400 times more bacteria and germs than a toilet seat. This can lead to many serious illnesses, such as smallpox, measles, and the flu. Tables also attract more germs than toilets because of the amount of time hands are placed on desks. In fact, it was reported that the area in which your hands rest on tables and desks can have approximately 10,000 bacteria organisms growing. Furthermore, many office tables are often left unwashed for long periods of time, allowing for bacteria and harmful organisms to grow and develop before spreading. For this reason, tables and desks come in at number nine of this list.

8.Computer Keyboards

Because people tend to use computer keyboards throughout their daily lives, it is no surprise that these devices would make it on the list. Keyboards attract a great amount of bacteria because they are rarely wiped or sanitized on a regular basis. As a result, it was shown in a study by Master Cleaners Ltd that "Keyboards contain 70 percent more bacteria than a toilet seat." Additionally, because keyboards are commonly used by more than one person in office and classroom settings, viruses and bacteria can move easily from person to person in a short period of time. For example, the Center for Disease reported that the first report of a norovirus was detected on a computer keyboard. The agency also revealed that the norovirus outbreak could have been entirely prevented if people simply cleaned their keyboards frequently and diligently to limit the spread of germs from one computer to another. As a result, computer keyboards are number 8 on this list.

7.Cell Phones

Cell phones can be found nearly everyone traveling from outside their home or outside the country. For that reason, cell phones would naturally be festering with germs and bacteria. In a report by British newspaper Which?, it was reported that of a total of 90 devices tested, there were over six hundred individual organisms of Staphylococcus aureus found on the surface of a cell phone. The bacteria organism Staphylococcus aureus has been known to cause ailments ranging from respiratory tract infection to staph infections. Additionally, because phones are so rarely cleaned, they carry as much as 10 times as many bacteria than your household toilet seat. It is for these reasons that cell phones made the seventh spot on this list. Cell phones are therefore number seven on this list.

6.Kitchen Chopping Boards

It shouldn't come as a surprise that kitchen chopping boards would contain some degree of bacteria left over from the raw meats sliced on them. However, what is surprising is that it was determined by the FDA that there are 200 times more fecal bacteria on cutting boards than on an actual toilet seat. This bacteria can be very serious to one's health because it can cause many food-borne illnesses, including salmonella and campylobacter. Also, because kitchen chopping boards are often left out for hours on end, this provides a chance for bacteria to easily grow and spread in a warm environment. Because of this, it can be said that it is safer to prepare meats on a toilet seat than it is on an unwashed kitchen chopping board. For these reasons, kitchen chopping boards come in at number six on this list of top ten dirtier items than a toilet seat.

翻译：毛志遥 来源：前十网