Breeding Germs on Your Cell Phone

Could you carry a dirty toilet seat around in your purse? Handle one several times a day? Or rub one on your face?

If you have a mobile phone you're actually doing much worse.

According to British newspaper the Daily Mail, UK researchers have determined your mobile phone houses more bacteria than a toilet seat, the sole of a shoe, or a door handle.

"I believe it," said Danielle Cooper when stopped with her cell phone at the Seattle Center. Still she said she hadn't given it much thought until now.

"Your hands touch everything, no matter where you are, then your hands touch your cell phone," Cooper added.

In fact researchers say your mobile phone collects bacteria from your hands and your face. A common germ they found: staphylococcus aureus, which causes illnesses from zits and boils, to pneumonia and meningitis.

Worse, your phone is warm and kept in cozy pockets, handbags, and briefcases. Those factors make it easier for bacteria to breed.