When it comes to a fear of germs, fully 39 percent of respondents in a nationwide survey said they feared picking up germs from a public restroom more than any other public place. The survey of 1,007 adults was conducted by the Opinion Research Corporation International on behalf of Kimberly-Clark Professional.
Since germs are the result of unsanitary conditions, the survey found that for 66 percent of the respondents "unclean conditions" were most apt to lead to a bad impression of the restroom. No toilet paper was a distant second at 13 percent, followed by odors at 11 percent. And what is the top reason a public restroom makes a good impression on visitors? Fully 77 percent said cleanliness.
Where else do we fear picking up germs?
Restaurants: 21 percent
Airplanes: 20 percent
Subways and trains: 11 percent
Movie theaters: 4 percent
Lest you think we're all a bunch of germophobes, note these startling facts assembled by Canada's Cannon Hygiene:
- The average employee goes to the washroom 3.3 times per day, so there's a good opportunity to transmit germs back and forth.
- The outside of a sanitary napkin receptacle is the most contaminated hot spot in the ladies' room.
- Studies show that viruses and several families of potentially harmful bacteria can exist on public restroom surfaces.
- The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report that 40 million Americans get sick from hand-borne bacteria each year and 80,000 people die.
- Germs, especially fecal bacteria, can be shot into the air when a toilet flushes. One study showed that bacteria released into the air in this way can settle on surfaces throughout the bathroom and in great enough concentrations to spread disease.
--Cathryn Conroy
