A UK-wide study of mobile phones planned to coincide with Global Handwashing Day, found that one in six carries fecal matter, probably because their owners are not washing their hands with soap after using the toilet. Researchers said some of the phones were contaminated with E. coli, fecal bacteria that can cause stomach upsets and serious food poisoning such as in the fatal O157 outbreak in Germany in June.

Once they are on hands and surfaces, fecal bacteria can survive for hours, especially in warm rooms away from sunlight. The germs are easily transferred from hands onto door handles, food and, as this study shows, mobile phones, from where they can transfer to other people.

Researchers from the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine and Queen Mary, University of London took 390 samples from mobile phones and hands in 12 cities around the UK. They analyzed the samples in the lab and they also questioned the participants about their handwashing habits.

The results also showed that Britons tend to lie about their hygiene habits: although 95% of the people they surveyed said they washed their hands with soap where possible, 92% of phones and 82% of hands were contaminated with bacteria.

Dr Val Curtis of the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine is a hygiene expert and campaign leader for Global Handwashing Day. She told the press:

"This study provides more evidence that some people still don't wash their hands properly, especially after going to the toilet."

"I hope the thought of having E. coli on their hands and phones encourages them to take more care in the bathroom -- washing your hands with soap is such a simple thing to do but there is no doubt it saves lives," she added.

Global Handwashing Day is held every year on 15 October, so this year it is on Saturday.

The campaign aims to make washing hands with soap an automatice human activity, a habit that is deeply embedded in daily life. Supported by a coalition of public and private sector bodies, it promotes a series of worldwide events and initiatives to encourage hand washing with soap in homes, schools, workplaces and communities.

The coalition includes: the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine; Queen Mary, University of London; GlaxoSmithKline; Sanofi Pasteur MSD; School Councils UK; The Ideas Foundation; Wellcome Trust; and Initial Washroom Solutions, whose Technical Manager, Peter Barratt, said:

"Today's research is shocking and demonstrates the importance of effective hygiene. It is critical that people take hand hygiene seriously and that businesses offer their employees and customers a practical way of protecting themselves to help combat the spread of illness."

The city with the biggest proportion of phones carrying fecal bacteria was Birmingham (41% of phones tested), while London had the highest proportion of hands testing positive for E. coli.

It also appears that the further north they went, the more bacteria they found on phones and hands, with Glasgow in Scotland having the highest levels, which were 9 times higher than in Brighton, the most southerly region of the survey.

(Although it is interesting that the pattern shows a discernible tendency towards dirtier hands and phones in the north than in the south of the UK, a statistician would probably argue that the sample sizes are not large enough to say with confidence that these patterns are more than mere chance. You can see the charts of results here.)

The tests also showed that people who had fecal bacteria on their hands were three times more likely to have them on their phones as well.

Dr Ron Cutler, of Queen Mary, University of London, said that while there was variation across the country, the survey reveals it is a nationwide problem, with E. coli present on phones and hands throughout the UK.

"People may claim they wash their hands regularly but the science shows otherwise," said Cutler.

Many mobile phones in Nigeria really smell of fecal matter.