HAMDEN, CONNECTICUT — Did you brush your teeth today—with someone else's Number 2?
According to Lad Bible, if you're one of those people that keeps your toothbrush in the bathroom—so that would include almost everyone—there's a good possibility that it's covered in faecal matter floating in the air after every flush.
Not closing the lid when flushing and keeping your toothbrush close at hand can create ideal conditions for things like E. Coli, Clostridium difficile and norovirus to land on the bristles and start multiplying.
According to a study at Quinnipiac University, if you're lucky enough to get to use a communal bathroom with an average of nine people, there's a 60 percent chance your toothbrush is covered in fecal coliforms.
And the cherry on top—okay, more like a chocolate covered cherry—is that there's an 80 percent chance those doo doo particles are from someone else using the same bathroom.
According to researcher Lauren Aber talking to Science Daily, "the main concern is not the presence of your own faecal matter on your toothbrush, but rather when a toothbrush is contaminated with faecal matter from someone else, which contains bacteria, viruses or parasites that are not part of your normal flora."
The study also found that obsessively cleaning your toothbrush with hot water or mouthwash didn't make a difference, neither did a cover.
So is it time to switch out that toothbrush, or continue playing toilet toothbrush craps?
