Why can't we eat and drink in the labs? What's the big deal?

Apart from the obvious fact that foods and liquids don't play well with computers, it comes down to a matter of health... YOURS!

Would you eat off a toilet seat? Of course not. Would you wash your hands before eating if you had just handled a toilet seat? Of course you would! (I hope)...

The average computer keyboard in an office or school
environment has more bacteria on it than a toilet seat!

"Work stations contain nearly 400 times as many microbes than lavatories..."

"The key offenders are telephones, which harbour up to 25,127 microbes per square inch, keyboards 3,295 and computer mice 1,676. By contrast, the average toilet seat contains 49 microbes per square inch, the survey showed."

"When someone is infected with a cold or flu bug the surfaces they touch during the day become germ transfer points because some cold and flu viruses can survive on surfaces for up to 72 hours."

"... washing your hands. "Soap and hot water for 18 to 20 seconds as frequently as you can remember to do it is going to be your single most effective prevention tip this season,..."

The keyboard in front of you is a minefield of bacteria. It would be impossible to keep it free of them, so your best bet for staying healthy is to wash your hands immediately after leaving the lab and certainly before you eat or drink anything.

(Please note that faculty do not have the
authority to allow food and drink in the labs.)

- BBCNews.com
- CNN.com
- Dr Charles Gerba, microbiologist, University of Arizona
- Professor Sally Bloomfield, microbiologist
- Roslyn Stone, Centers for Disease Control