Is Your Keyboard Typing Safe? Why You Must Clean Your Computer Typing KeyboardHere's why you should clean your typing keyboard before doing your keyboard typing practice. Touch typing on a dirty keyboard means touching scores of bacteria when typing on your keyboard. Did you know that your computer keyboard can be one of the least hygienic objects that you're touching during the day? Let me ask you this: Would you eat a sandwich on the toilet seat? Of course not. Because it isn't clean, and it isn't healthy. But how many times are you eating a snack over your office desk and computer keyboard? Here's the shocking news: According to a study by researchers, led by the University of Arizona’s Dr. Charles Gerba and funded by The Clorox Company (TM)...
The average desktop harbors 400 times more bacteria On average, the area where you rest your hand on the desk has 10,000,000 bacteria. That number again is: 10 MILLION. According to the study, phones were found to be the number 1 contaminated spot in the office. Next in the order of "germy" surfaces were desktops, computer keyboards and mice.
"95,600 Bacteria Per Square Inch on Computer Keyboards" Computer keyboards and mice of teachers were the most contaminated, because teachers are using their keyboards very much. Computer keyboards used by teachers, averaged 95,600 bacteria per square inch, and mouses: an average of 10,600 bacteria per square inch. Thus, a person who's using his/her keyboard much during the day, for example doing a lot of keyboard typing, is exposed most to the harmfful germs living on the keyboard. Research has shown that most workers snack at their desks during the day, and the majority of people don't clean their desks before eating most of the times. 20% of the people never clean their computer keyboards. People eat breakfast, lunch and snacks over their keyboards, where they spend a big part of the day, doing keyboard typing and other keyboarding practices. They scratch their heads, bite their nails, pull their hair, wipe their noses, and let food crumbs, dandruff, nails, hair, tissues and other dust and dirt drop on their computer keyboards.
"Computer Desks Are Bacteria Cafeterias" In an E-mail interview, Mary Seltzer, who was involved in publicizing the above study, told me that a keyboard is attractive to bacteria because "it’s one of the most frequently touched surfaces in a personal office/workspace."
"If you come into contact with these surfaces after she does, there’s a good chance you can pick up some germs that can make you sick on your hands and then transfer those to your office." (Emphasis by me - JS) Indeed, studies have shown that infected people can leave trails of viruses on keyboards and other surfaces when they touch them, and the viruses can survive there for days. Among those viruses are such that can cause respiratory infections like bronchiolitis and pneumonia.
Animal Hair, Grease and Urine on Computer Keyboards
According to the above source, computer repairman and cleaners "have found everything from grease to animal hair," and researchers found that computer keyboards tested were positive for urine. In an "undercover investigation," reported in the above transcript, "potentially dangerous germs were found on just about all the samples". Among the bacteria on the keyboards were such that cause colds and flu, urinary tract infections, sinus and respiratory ailments and pneumonia.
In Short: Computer keyboards...
10,000's Die of Bacterial Illnesses Annually Who is exposed the most? Elderly people, those with a weakened immune system and those with an open wound. But everyone doing keyboard typing is potentially exposed. (By the way, if your keyboard is very unclean, then, for all these reasons, it is possibly a good idea to buy a new keyboard for your keyboard typing practice or any other keyboarding pratice; especially, if you don't have the time or energy to clean your keyboard. You can buy a new computer keyboard at the
famous Amazon online store here
.)
Think about this: Computer keyboards are serious places where people can catch dangerous parasites when doing keyboard typing and transfer them to others. You see? A computer keyboard is DIRTY.. Snack crumbs, hair, fingernails, dandruffs and other dirt - these are only some of the substances that your untrained eye can possibly detect on your computer keyboard. But there's much more - those tiny harmful creatures that you can't even see with your eyes.
So, What you can do to it? How Can You Be Safe? According to Dr. Gerba, frequent hand-washing and using disinfecting wipes daily on surfaces in your cubicle or office is recommended, in order to kill illness-causing germs.
(http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=pubmed&cmd=Retrieve&dopt=AbstractPlus&list_uids=16622815&query_hl=2&itool=pubmed_docsum)
I'd also recommend to wash your hands every time before and after doing your keyboard typing and mouse activity. Washing hands with soap before touching the keyboard prevents the dirt to be transferred on the keyboard and mouse when doing keyboard typing and using your computer mouse. Cleaning the hands after keyboard typing and touching the keyboard and mouse prevents possible germs from the keyboard to transfer to other places. Mrs. Mary Seltzer agrees: "Frequent hand-washing and using disinfecting wipes daily on commonly touched surfaces (such as your desktop, phone, keyboard and mouse) should suffice," she says. "Using disinfecting wipes on frequently touched surfaces will help kill 99.9 percent of germs, and frequent hand-washing is also recommended. "When used as directed, disinfecting wipes (like those from Clorox) can eliminate 99.9 percent of germs."
Solutions: Keep Your Keyboard Typing Safe By...
Or, Buy a New Keyboard from Amazon (TM) Now!
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