Mobile phones ’dirtier than toilet handles’ 手機「比馬桶沖水把手髒」

 ◎陳成良
Mobile phones are covered with up to 18 times more living bacteria than the flush handle on a men’s lavatory, research suggests.
手機上覆蓋的活菌數量，比男廁沖水把手多上18倍，研究指出。
Swabs and analysis of 30 mobile handsets found that seven had high or warning levels of environmental bacteria, according to consumer group Which?
對30支手機進行擦拭及分析後，發現其中7支帶有高度或達到警戒層級的環境細菌，據消費者組織「Which? 」表示。
One harboured levels of bacteria, including faecal coliforms, high enough to give its user a serious stomach upset.
其中一支帶有多種細菌，包括糞大腸桿菌群，數量之高足以造成其使用者嚴重胃部不適。
Which? said the findings suggest millions of UK mobiles would exceed the recommended acceptable levels of bacteria.
「Which? 」指出，這項發現顯示，英國有數百萬支手機帶菌程度，將超過可接受的建議標準。
While not immediately harmful, elevated levels of bacteria indicate poor hygiene and can act as a breeding ground for more serious germs.
雖然不致造成立即傷害，含菌量高意味衛生情況惡劣，可以成為更有害細菌的繁殖場所。
Hygiene expert Jim Francis said： "The levels of potentially harmful bacteria on one mobile were off the scale. That phone needs sterilising."
衛生專家吉姆．法蘭西斯表示：「其中一支手機的可能有害細菌水平大幅超標，因此需要消毒。」
The tests showed how easily bacteria could linger on the surface of a phone, which could be passed on to other people if they held the handset to look at photos or other applications.
這些測試顯示出，細菌很容易滯留在手機表面上，如果其他人拿這支手機看照片或其他應用程式，細菌可能就傳播到他們身上。
新聞辭典
hygiene：名詞，保健、衛生。例句：People with bad personal hygiene are prone to get parasites in their bodies.（不講究個人衛生的人很容易在體內產生寄生蟲。）
germ：名詞， 一般指可引起疾病的細菌。bacteria兼指有害、無害甚至有益的細菌，而英文口語中bug也可指病菌。
pass on：片語，傳遞、轉移、轉嫁。例句：The company passed on extra labor costs to the consumer.（這間公司把額外的人工成本轉嫁到消費者頭上。）