KTLA5
Given that about 3 million passengers move through U.S. airports every day, there’s a good deal of research exploring air travel’s role in the worldwide spread of sickness and germs.
One study published by the BMC Infectious Diseases journal tested commonly touched places in large U.S. airports – luggage trays, handrails, toilets, etc. – for respiratory virus germs such as COVID-19 and the flu.
Ten percent of the tested surface samples were positive for at least one respiratory virus. The study concludes that the most contaminated surfaces were luggage trays at security checks, touched by hundreds of travelers daily without sanitation.
More research tests the cleanliness of airport and airplane surfaces in terms of average colony-forming units (CFU), the average bacterial and fungal cells per square inch of a surface.
An airport self-check-in screen contains an astonishing 254,000 CFU. Compare that to a kitchen sink, home to more bacteria than any other surface in the house: only 21,000 CFU on average.
Gate bench armrests clock in at about 21,500 CFU, with water fountain buttons hitting approximately 19,000 CFU.
Ironically, a toilet seat might be the cleanest surface in the airport. Toilet seats show no sign of respiratory virus germs, according to the BMC Infectious Diseases journal, as compared to many other surfaces.
Travelers might be safer from germs on the aircraft than in the airport, as individual planes are exposed to far fewer people. However, no government regulations require airlines to maintain cleanliness beyond routine inspections. The sanitation process between flights therefore depends on the airline’s chosen procedures.
On average, an aircraft seat belt buckle holds about 1,000 CFU, and a tray table holds about 11,600. The dirtiest surface on an airplane, by far, is the lavatory flush button, which contains about 95,000 CFU. For reference, an average household toilet handle typically holds just 30 CFU.
While self-check-in screens contain the highest average amount of bacteria, the BMC Infectious Diseases journal points out that its self-check-in screen tests came back negative for any respiratory viruses. In other words, the types of bacteria on a plane’s toilet flush button might make it the less sanitary surface after all.
The main bacteria found on toilet flush buttons is gram-positive cocci, a bacteria associated with infections such as pneumonia, meningitis and skin, ear and sinus infections. Self-check-in screens, on the other hand, contain mostly gram-positive rods, a less threatening bacteria that, while not completely harmless, can potentially help prevent sickness.
Frances Denman is an editorial assistant at CityScene Media Group. Feedback welcome at feedback@cityscenemediagroup.com.
