Areas sampled included telephone mouthpieces, computer mice, desktops, doorknobs and handles, conference rooms, light switches and office cubicles. New York — where half of all office surfaces contained the virus — was the most virus-laden city followed by Atlanta, San Francisco, Chicago and Tucson. Conference rooms had far fewer germs than cubicles, while desktops had most of the tested surfaces. In all office buildings, the light switch was the least-contaminated site.
The study found that surfaces in personal work areas such as offices and cubes, had higher bacteria levels than surfaces in common areas. Telephones came in as No. 1 home for office germs, followed by desks, water-fountain handles, microwave door handles and computer keyboards. Surprisingly, toilet seats consistently had the lowest bacteria levels of the 12 surfaces tested in the study.
For the study, Gerba and his team separated office workers into two groups. One group used disinfecting wipes to clean their desks, phones and computers; the other did not. Within two days, the wipes users were found to have a 99.9 percent reduction in bacteria levels.
The study team evaluated a variety of office locations, environments and surfaces. Study sites included private offices, cubicles and common work areas in offices located in New York, San Francisco, Tucson and Tampa. A total of 7,000 samples were collected nationwide and analyzed at the University of Arizona laboratories.
