From the common sense files: Study says DONT LICK GAS PUMP HANDLES

[guyver01]

http://news.yahoo.com/gas-pump-handles-top-study-filthy-surfaces-040616533.html

Gas pump handles top study of filthy surfaces

(Reuters) - Just when you thought filling up your car could not hurt any more, researchers may have found another reason to avoid touching the gas pump: germs.

Gas pump handles turned out to be the filthiest surface that Americans encounter on the way to work, according to a study released on Tuesday by Kimberly-Clark Professional, a unit of personal hygiene giant Kimberly-Clark Corp.

A team of hygienists swabbed hundreds of surfaces around six U.S. cities to see what everyday objects are breeding grounds for the worst bacteria and viruses.

The top offenders, following gas pumps, were handles on public mailboxes, escalator rails and ATM buttons.

Closely following on the filthiest list were parking meters and kiosks, crosswalk buttons and buttons on vending machines in shopping malls.

"It comes down to the fact that nobody cleans the things that you're going to touch on a daily basis," said Dr. Kelly Arehart, program leader of Kimberly-Clark's Healthy Workplace Project.

Testers analyzed swabs of the surfaces for levels of adenosine triphosphate, which signals the presence of animal, vegetable, bacteria, yeast or mold cells, and the high levels found suggest they can be transmitting illness, researchers said.

Swabs were taken in Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles, Miami and Philadelphia.

Arehart's colleague Brad Reynolds said germs from people's hands can transfer seven times before leaving the skin. People should wash their hands as soon as they get to work, he said.

 

[IceBergSLiM]

Sponsored by the same Kimberly-Clark corp that makes and sells all that hand sanitizer? YOU DONT SAY!!!!

 

[Saint Nick]

Lmao, that ^

I don't even give a fuck. My immune system is solid thanks to all of these surfaces housing bacteria.

 

[FoBoT]

dude, that isn't the handle

 

[Thebobo]

dude, that isn't the handle

LOL

 

[IGemini]

dude, that isn't the handle

This. Handle =/= nozzle. And it's the hand-to-face contact people do several times a day that transmits the stuff, one doesn't need to lick.

But yes, still should be in the "no shit" files, obviously public places will have pathogens. This cleanliness obsession all to sell product has been getting counterproductive. Exposure to this stuff is what makes our immune system work.

 

[JulesMaximus]

You would think that gas stations would at least wipe down the handles once a day...is that too much to ask? Really?

 

[Lash444]

dude, that isn't the handle

They took the pic too early.

 

[CPA]

I just don't understand how the human species has thrived for so long....

 

[FoBoT]

... one doesn't need to lick.

however, some may prefer to lick
i suppose

 

[RedRooster]

They should dispense special latex gloves for gas pumping, at all stations. The human race will be destroyed by germs!

 

[Jeff7]

Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy told of this. Those telephone sanitizers were the ones who were preventing the death of a civilization.


Back in high school, we had to get some microorganism samples from around the school, and swab them on some growth medium to make some nice colonies of critters.

My group ventured into the teacher's lounge, and we found some lovely slime in the bottom drawer. The small swabbing of material in the gel plate failed to grow any colonies - instead, whatever was in there ended up liquefying the entire petri dish of gel.

Despite that, we didn't feel compelled to go back and lap up the slime.

 

[yhelothar]

I bathe in raw sewage so my immune system is armed with machine guns and rocket launchers.