Monday, November 28, 2011

The 8 Germiest Places In The Mall


During the craziness of the holidays, the last thing you want is to get sidelined with a cold, flu, stomach bug or worse. But while you’re checking items off your shopping list you may be exposing yourself to germs that can make you sick. CNN asked a panel of experts to rank the worst germ hotspots at your local shopping center. They found that the filthiest area in a restroom (and therefore in the whole mall) isn’t the toilet handle or the doorknob – it’s the sink. Bacteria, including E. coli, fester on the faucet and handles because people touch those surfaces right after using the toilet, explains Charles Gerba, Ph.D., a professor of environmental microbiology at the University of Arizona. “The sink area is a moist environment, so bacteria can survive longer there,” he adds. Watch out for soap dispensers, too. When Gerba’s team tested liquid soap from refillable dispensers in public bathrooms, they found that one in four contained unsafe levels of bacteria. Check out the 8 germiest places in the mall then stock up on hand wipes and hand sanitizer:

1. Restroom sinks
2. Food court tables
3. Escalator handrails
4. ATM keypads
5. Toy stores
6. Fitting rooms (rather the clothes you try on in the fitting rooms)
7. Gadget shops
8. Makeup samples