The inside of your car could be even dirtier than a toilet seat, experts warned today.
Stomach-churning images show how vehicles can be home to a cocktail of bacteria not visible to the naked eye.
As part of their grim experiment, a team from LKQ Euro Car Parts took samples from three different car interiors.
The driver’s seat was the worst offender with levels of illness-causing bugs almost four times higher than a toilet, followed by the handbrake, inside door handles and gear stick.
Stomach-churning images show how your vehicle is home to cocktail of bacteria not visible to the naked eye. The researchers, from LKQ Euro Car Parts, took samples from three car interiors, to establish bacterial contamination levels. Pictured, the driver’s seat
Experts today labelled the results ‘sobering’ and urged drivers to rethink how they clean their cars. Pictured, the inoculated plate harbouring bacteria from the door handle
Experts today labelled the results ‘sobering’ and urged drivers to rethink how they clean their vehicles.
Dr Deborah Lee, a medical writer at Dr Fox Online Pharmacy said: ‘The car is a potent source of bacteria, some of which can cause illnesses in humans.
‘If the car is not properly cleaned, infections can occur and recur and, in some people, become persistent.
‘There are bacteria all around us, and thankfully we have a good immune system to keep us safe, but the fact that the car is such an incubator for micro-organisms is a sobering thought.’
She added: ‘When we get an infection, we have no idea where it has come from, but it could very well have come from the car.’
Experts tested bacteria levels in each of the three vehicles, a 2007 Audi A3, 2011 Mini Hatchback and 2010 Nissan Qashqai.
But they did not disclose if they were bought second hand, when they were last cleaned or if they had hosted children and animals.
They held microbiological dip slides against eight separate areas including air vents and radio buttons, for 15 seconds.
The slides contained agar, which supports all bacterial growth, even enterobacteriaceae, found in the faeces of humans and animals.
Experts tested bacteria levels in each of the three vehicles, a 2007 Audi A3, 2011 Mini Hatchback and 2010 Nissan Qashqai. But they did not disclose of they were bought second hand or had hosted children and animals. Pictured, the inoculated plate a week after a swab of the gear stick
Research has long shown motorists only clean their cars once every three months on average, typically prompted by an imminent visit to the garage. Pictured, the inoculated plate a week after a swab of the steering wheel
Inoculated plates were then incubated at 30°C (86°F) for a week to enable bacterial growth.
Six of the eight points swabbed were shown to harbour more bacteria than dirty toilet seats, experts found.
A total of 107 bacteria colonies were identified on the driver’s seat, almost four times the 30 they claimed are logged on average on toilet seats.
The seat belt, meanwhile, recorded 47 colonies, with the handbrake and door handle reporting 41 each respectively.
Even the gear stick swab saw 35 colonies counted.
Of all areas, the steering wheel was among the cleanest.
Research has long shown motorists only clean their cars once every three months on average, typically prompted by an imminent visit to the garage.
According to researchers from Queen Mary University of London, an estimated 700 types of bacteria can lurk on your steering wheel.
***
Read more at DailyMail.co.uk