Men’s Health Australia - 01.07.2018

HEALTH

1,609

1,512

1,319

910

1,045

1,090

967

Bike-share

handlebar

Dirty

workout

shirt

AT M

machine

keypad

Public

water

Cofee shop

door

handle

Oice

bathroom soap

dispenser

Pizza shop

cheese shaker

Taxi seat

Mobile phone

screen

Train

handhold

bar

Elevator

button

Oice

toilet seat

Oice light switch

Laptop

keyboard

Holy water

Toothbrush

bristles

Gym

dumbbell

Train Terminal

door han

Oice

cofee machine

Lips upon waking

(brush, then kiss!)

807

630

543

494

475

470

454

261

113

110

105

105

67

59

58

• Grooved or textured
  surfaces tend to harbour
  more bacteria because
  they’re harder to disinfect
  with a swipe.


• Synthetic clothing fibres
  like polyester collect more
  bacteria than natural
  fibres like cotton.


• Copper door handles have
  significantly less bacteria
  than stainless steel
  ones. (Copper has natural
  antibacterial properties.)
  And the contamination
  level of a pull-door handle
  is five times that of a push
  plate. So “handle” them
  with care.

AVO I D G E R M S

Hands at

end of day

D

w

s

Public

al

d

45

ntain

et

hi

Supermarket

basket handle

Bufet

tongs

As I slip into a church, I feel like Jason Bourne.

My backpack contains 20 plastic capsules

and a small electronic monitoring device.

To the security guards, I could look like a

bioterrorist. My mission: to procure a sample

of holy water.

I use a gaggle of tourists as cover and

surreptitiously scoop up my sample. Forgive

me, Father, for I have sinned...

The device in my backpack is a Hygiena

EnSURE ATP luminometer. ATP stands for

adenosine triphosphate. Your body’s cells use

We set our intrepid

writer, Joshua St.

Clair, loose in the

city with a germ

detector. Here’s what

he found – and what

you should avoid

1

KNOW WHERE

THE GERMS

ARE LURKING

ATP molecules for energy, so the more ATP on

a surface, the greater the biological activity. In

other words, the higher the ATP reading, the

more abundant the bacteria. I skulked around

the city for days, swabbing anything that

looked suspicious, including myself.

Microbiologist Dr Adam Roberts says we

shouldn’t obsess over germs. “It may seem

terrible to think every surface you touch is

teeming with life, but that’s just life.” Still, in

such a “lively” world, it can’t hurt to be aware

and have a plan for dodging the worst.

Just so you know: these are Josh’s luminometer readings from his city germ safari.

THE ICK METER Big numbers suggest big pathogen parties. Watch what you touch, and wash your mitts!