A recent study in the U.S.A., testing surfaces that are handled frequently by the public revealed some startling results - enough to make a person think about changing the way they perform routine daily tasks.
The top offenders in public places for accumulation of germs included a drive-thru ATM at a big bank, which tested an ATP (adenosine triphosphate), count of 1,032. Surprisingly, the toilet at a public restaurant is significantly cleaner, at 431. The dirtiest thing tested was a gas pump, which nearly reached the 2,000 mark, measuring a whopping 1,907.
Kimberly-Clark also performed a study to measure germs recently.
The percentage of public surfaces tested and found to have high levels of contamination (an ATP count of 300 or higher), includes:
71 percent of gas pump handles
68 percent of mailbox handles
43 percent of escalator rails
41 percent of ATM buttons
40 percent of parking meters/kiosks
35 percent of crosswalk buttons
35 percent of vending machine buttons