When will they provide wipes at the gas pump? Just saying..



Gas pump handles top list of filthy surfaces touched on the way to work

If you thought filling the gas tank could only hurt your wallet, consider this: Gas pump handles are the filthiest surface commuters encounter on their way to work.
At least that's what a study by Kimberly-Clark Professional found. Gas pumps tested as the worst breeding ground for bacteria and viruses in a study of six U.S. cities.
And they weren't the only germy spots. The top offenders were public mailbox handles, rails on escalators and ATM buttons.
Other items on the list: parking meters and kiosks, crosswalk buttons and buttons on vending machines in shopping malls.
The study was performed by University of Arizona researcher Charles Gerba -- the man who found fecal matter on shopping cart handles and reported the average workplace has 400 times more bacteria than a toilet.
Before you run for the disinfectant, you might want to remember the study was sponsored by a unit of Kimberly-Clark, the company that makes tissues, wipes and disinfectants. Still, the study reported in U.S.A. Today, makes you think twice about the surfaces you touch every day.
"It comes down to the fact that nobody cleans the things that you're going to touch on a daily basis," Dr. Kelly Arehart, program leader of Kimberly-Clark's Healthy Workplace Project, told Reuters.
The Healthy Workplace Project recommends countering the germs by washing your hands when you arrive at work and by wiping down the computer keyboard, mouse and desk.
[link to www.mlive.com]